UC-NRLF 


984e 

F994 

I 

1920 

MAIN 


TS  IN  THE  HISTORY 

OF    THE 

•HICAL     MOVEMENT 


|)  IN  New  York  City  in  1875  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky,  continued 
|DER  William  Q.  Judge,  and  now  under  the  direction 
OF  their  successor,  Katherine  :T;I^GI,;EY 


BY 


JOSEPH    H.    FUSSELL 


ETARY,    UNIVERSAL   BROTHERHOOD   AND   THEOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY 


ire  given  at  the  Isis  Theater,  San  Diego,  California,  under  the  auspices  oj 
The    Aryan    Theosophical    Society 


Third  Revised  Edition,  1920 


Published  by 

The  Aryan  Theosophical  Press 

[•national  Headquarters,  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society 
POINT    LOMA,    CALIFORNIA 


{  LIBRARIES 


s^mfi 


fents 


r^^pr7^t-'V'^^A^^^l^|.»-i^£--^V''^^       (fj 


INCIDENTS  IN  THE  HISTORY 

OF    THE 

THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT 


Bounded  in  New  York  City  in  1875  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky,  continued 
UNDER  William  Q.  Judge,  and  now  under  the  direction 
OF  their  successor,  Katherinf,  :Tii^<3i;EY      r  ' 


BY 
JOSEPH    H.    FUSSELL 

secretary,   universal  brotherhood  and  THEOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 


Lecture  given  at  the  Isis  Theater,  San  Diego.  California,  under  the  auspices  of 
The    Aryan    Theosophical    Society 


Third  Revised  Edition,   1920 


Published  by 

The  Aryan  Theosophical  Press 

International  Headquarters,  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society 
POINT    LOMA,    CALIFORNIA 


Price,  25  Cents 


Copyright  1920,  by  Katherine  Tingley 


Vj 


;IFT 


INTRODUCTION 


/ 

The  incidents  related  in  this  pamphlet  are  only  a  few  of  those  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  Theosophical  Movement;  only  the  fringe  of  the  subject 
has  been  touched ;  yet  we  feel  they  will  serve  to  make  clear  something  of  the 
real  purpose  of  this  Movement,  and  of  the  basis  and  motives  underlying  the 
many  attacks  that  have  been  made  upon  it,  and  thus  remove  some  of  the  mis- 
conceptions that  have  arisen  in  the  minds  of  the  public.  In  the  limited  space 
of  a  pamphlet  many  matters  of  vital  interest  and  importance  must  perforce  be 
omitted,  a  full  account  of  which  will  be  given  later  by  Katherine  Tingley  in  her 
book  The  Conspiracy  Against  the  Theosophical  Society  and  its  Leaders,  which 
she  has  in  preparation  and  which  will  contain  many  startling  revelations  of 
the  persecution  which  Theosophy  and  its  Leaders  have  endured  from  many 
unsuspected  sources. 

Yet  even  herein  is  shown  the  truth  of  the  old  saying  that  a  lie  two  hours 
ahead  of  the  truth  is  hardly  to  be  overtaken.  Jesus  is  said  to  have  declared, 
"  I  came  not  to  bring  peace  upon  the  earth  but  a  sword,"  and  the  same  is  true 
in  degree  of  every  presentation  of  Truth  pure  and  undefiled ;  yet  his  mission 
was  peace,  good  will  to  men;  and  so  too  the  mission  of  Theosophy  is  peace, 
universal  brotherhood. 

Every  new  effort  for  the  benefit  of  Humanity  has  its  enemies,  not  only 
those  who  are  wilfully  so,  because  they  feel  their  selfish  interests  are  threat- 
ened, and  who  take  a  positive  delight  in  circulating  false  stories,  but  also 
the  misinformed  and  the  ignorant.  For  these  latter,  there  is  indeed  hope  that 
with  knowledge,  with  the  spread  of  correct  information,  their  attitude  may 
change  to  one  of  tolerance,  if  not  of  acceptance.  But  where  in  the  scheme  of 
evolution  shall  we  place  the  former?  Then  too,  religious  prejudices,  resulting 
in  persecution,  can  be  met  in  the  open  field ;  but  gossips  and  scandal-mongers, 
and  purveyors  of  anonymous  and  false  accusations  —  what  condemnation  is 
too  strong  for  such?  In  human  shape  they  may  truly  be;  but  partaking  of 
human  nature,  at  the  core  of  which  is  the  divine  spark?  Would  it  not  be  a 
libel  on  humanity  so  to  label  them?  And  what  shall  be  said  of  those  who  know 
of  and  permit  these  things,  while  at  the  same  time  claiming  an  inner  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  clairvoyant  powers  and  an  insight  into  human  nature?  Shall 
they  escape  the  divine  Justice  of  Karma? 

Theosophy  teaches  Brotherhood;  Universal  Brotherhood  is  the  first  object 
of  the  Theosophical  Movement.  But  what  is  Brotherhood?  Is  it  Brotherhood 
to  close  your  eyes  to  the  dangers  that  threaten  your  fellows?  Is  it  Brotherhood 
to  permit  a  degenerate  or  a  moral  leper  to  enter  the  sanctity  of  your  home,  to 
associate  freely  with  your  innocent  children  and  to  exercise  unrestrained  his 
evil  influence  over  them  and  possibly  to  ruin  them?  Is  it  Brotherhood  to  per- 
mit one  suffering  from  a  contagious  loathsome  disease  to  sit  down  and  drink 
out  of  the  same  cup  with  you,  and  to  mingle  with  the  members  of  your  family? 
No,  true  Brotherhood  is  not  mawkish  and  foolish  sentimentality.    Brother- 

^48629 


2  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

hood',  fi'om  a'-TheDsophical  standpoint,  which  is  consistent  with  the  highest 
cnmjnon  sense,. means  and  includes  yMs/^ce,  it  means  brotherhood  and  justice 
to  the  Children,'  the  innocent,  the  weak  and  the  ignorant.  It  means  responsi- 
bility on  the  part  of  those  who  know  for  those  who  do  not  know.  A  true 
brother  is  not  afraid  to  remind  another  of  his  mistake  for  fear  of  arousing 
harsh  feeling,  but  warns  both  him  and  others  lest  he  do  harm. 

In  the  grand  scheme  of  evolution  we  are  all  here  for  a  purpose,  and  to 
accomplish  that  purpose  requires  that  we  cultivate  only  that  part  of  our  nature 
that  will  endure,  the  immortal,  divine  part;  it  requires  that  we  follow  only 
those  things  that  purify  and  uplift,  that  make  us  better  men  and  women, 
better  home-makers  in  the  most  sacred  sense,  better  citizens. 

Katherine  Tingley  teaches  that  any  one  who  professes  to  work  for  Theo- 
sophy  or  defend  the  Theosophical  teachings  and  movement,  who  attempts  to 
convey  to  others  the  idea  that  he  is  cultivating  spiritual  powers  or  living  the 
spiritual  life,  but  who  neglects  his  sacred  obligations  to  his  family  or  any  of 
his  duties,  is  wilfully  and  wofully  going  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Theo- 
sophy.  Katherine  Tingley  declares  that  it  will  require  the  most  strenuous 
efforts  during  this  and  the  next  generation  to  undo  fully  the  evils  resulting 
from  the  promulgation  of  counterfeit  Theosophy. 

We  as  students  of  Theosophy,  the  Divine  Wisdom,  believe  in  the  widest 
tolerance,  but  we  have  a  duty  to  perform  and,  as  H.  P.  Blavatsky  has  said, 
"The  duty  of  a  Theosophist  is  to  do  his  duty  by  every  duty,"  to  protest 
against  evil  in  every  form  and  wherever  found,  and  not  merely  to  protest,  but 
to  protest  along  corrective  lines.  Surely  this  must  have  been  in  the  mind  of 
Jesus  when  he  drove  the  money-changers  out  of  the  Temple.  Is  the  Galilean 
teacher  to  be  blamed  for  rebuking  and  refusing  to  be  a  party  to  those  who 
would  impose  upon  the  people  with  their  pretense  to  possess  the  divine  wis- 
dom? Yet  I  doubt  not,  in  his  day  were  to  be  found  those  who  exclaimed, 
"How  unbrotherly!"  And  none  the  less  important  is  the  duty  of  Theo- 
sophists  to  protect  the  temple  of  Truth  and  protest  against  anything  that 
may  lead  away  from  the  clean,  honorable  path  in  life. 

There  are  many,  very  many,  in  the  world  today  who  seek  to  have  their 
conscience  lulled  to  sleep,  to  be  cajoled  into  the  belief  that  both  God  and 
Mammon  can  be  served  at  the  same  time,  that  there  is  still  a  way  in  which 
they  can  gratify  the  demands  of  their  lower  nature  and  yet  keep  up  at  least 
the  pretense  of  being  students  of  the  higher  wisdom.  But  it  is  deeds,  not 
words,  that  the  world  needs  with  its  poor  suffering  humanity;  not  the  prophe- 
sying of  smooth  things,  the  speaking  of  comfortable  words,  the  prophesying 
of  deceits  —  but  the  plain  and  simple  truth,  the  protest  against  evil,  the 
helpful  words  that  encourage  and  inspire  to  a  renewed  effort. 

And  therefore  it  is  that  these  Incidents  are  related. 

From  the  San  Diego  'Union,'  April  5,   1910 

J.  H.  FussELL  lectured  at  the  Isis  Theater  on  Sunday  night  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Aryan  Theosophical  Society,  giving  'Some  Incidents  in  the 
History  of  the  Theosophical  Movement.'  Mr.  Fussell  lectured  for  an  hour 
and  thirty  minutes,  but  so  intensely  interesting  were  the  incidents  he  related, 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  ,,  3 

many  of  them  dramatic  in  their  situations,  that  he  held  his  large  audience 
from  start  to  finish. 

He  spoke  of  the  conditions  existing  in  the  world  when  Madame  H.  P. 
Blavatsky  first  came  in  1875  to  New  York  to  found  there  the  Theosophical 
Society;  of  the  message  she  had  to  materialists,  spiritualists,  church-goers, 
scientists,  and  of  the  friends  and  enemies  she  made  out  of  these  bodies.  Of 
special  interest  were  several  statements  written  by  Madame  Blavatsky  to  and 
of  her  faithful  colleague  and  successor,  William  Q.  Judge,  and  particularly  a 
sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Esoteric  Section,  which  Mr.  Fussell  gave  by  per- 
mission of  Mme  Tingley,  who  is  the  present  Head  of  the  reorganized  Theo- 
sophical body.  The  interest  of  the  audience  was  marked  when  the  lecturer 
read  the  pledge  or  obligation  which  is  exacted  of  all  members  of  this  inner  body. 

A  description  of  many  of  the  attacks  upon  the  Theosophical  Society  and  its 
Leaders  and  of  the  growth  and  progress  of  the  Society  was  full  of  interesting 
historical  information. 

In  introducing  his  subject  Mr.  Fussell  said: 

"This  that  I  am  going  to  read  to  you  tonight  was  being  prepared  as  a  pam- 
phlet for  the  information  of  our  new  members  and  inquirers  as  a  brief  account 
of  certain  facts  of  the  true  history  of  the  Theosophical  Movement.  At  the 
request,  however,  of  a  citizen  of  San  Diego  who  is  conversant  with  some  of 
the  facts  herein  told  and  who  suggested  that  on  account  of  San  Diego's  having 
been  the  theater  of  so  many  incidents  connected  with  the  Theosophical  Move- 
ment, our  friends  who  attend  our  Sunday  evening  meetings  at  I  sis  Theater 
would  be  interested  in  these  facts,  I  have  selected  a  certain  portion  of  the  pam- 
phlet to  read  to  you  this  evening. 

"And  in  writing  this  it  has  been  my  endeavor  to  present  the  facts  so  clearly 
and  faithfully  that  those  earnestly  seeking  the  truth  may  know  where  to  look 
for  it,  and  not  be  misled  by  any  who  misuse  the  name  of  Theosophy." 


INCIDENTS    IN    THE    HISTORY    OF    THE 
THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT 

NO  one  familiar  with  the  world  of  thought  as  it  is  today,  and  able  to  look 
back  thirty,  forty  or  more  years,  but  is  amazed  at  the  enormous  changes 
that  have  taken  place.  The  younger  generation  of  today  can  have  little 
conception  of  the  condition  of  things  that  confronted  their  forefathers  or  of 
the  discoveries  in  new  realms  of  thought  and  research  and  invention  that  have 
changed  the  whole  face  of  the  world,  and  are  so  common  today. 

In  thinking  of  Madame  Blavatsky  and  how  to  present  to  you  a  picture  of 
her  work  there  comes  to  my  mind  as  an  illustration  a  great  scientist,  far  ahead 
of  his  time,  making  a  great  discovery  —  something  that  would  benefit  all  his 
fellow-men  —  which,  if  it  could  be  applied,  would  remove  the  sorrow  and 
heartache  of  the  world,  and  lift  the  burdens  from  the  sad  and  weary.  Moved 
by  the  knowledge  of  this  great  discovery,  would  he  not  seek  every  means  to 
bring  it  to  the  attention  of  the  public?  So  it  was  with  Madame  Blavatsky  and 
her  knowledge  of  the  truths  of  Theosophy.  Energized  by  these,  and  by  her 
great  love  for  humanity,  she  sought  to  give  some  of  these  teachings  to  the 
world,  so  that  a  new  order  of  things  might  come  to  be. 

From  her  writings,  and  from  the  testimony  of  those  who  knew  her,  the  evi- 
dences are  plain  to  everyone  who  will  choose  to  look,  that  she  had  not  only  a 
great  store  of  knowledge,  but  a  great  insight  into  the  needs  of  the  world.  Her 
keen  powers  of  perception  are  acknowledged  even  by  her  worst  enemies,  and 
those  who  have  any  appreciation  of  her  motives  and  efforts  can  value  to  some 
degree  the  vast  extent  of  her  knowledge. 

H.  P.  Blavatsky's  Message  to  Materialists,   Spiritualists, 
Churgh-goers,  and  Scientists  —  Friends  and  Enemies 

At  the  time  she  came  to  America  with  the  purpose  of  forming  the  Theo- 
sophical  Society,  materialism  was  at  its  strongest,  and  in  its  ranks  she  saw  a 
tremendous  power.  Many  of  the  followers  of  materialism  showed  an  honesty 
and  sincerity  of  purpose  that  in  many  believers  in  things  spiritual  were  sadly 
missing.  Most  of  the  materialists  had  come  out  of  the  Churches,  unable  to  ac- 
cept their  teachings  on  faith,  and  finding  little  in  the  actual  practice  of  Chris- 
tianity that  would  warrant  accepting  the  lives  of  its  adherents  as  proof  of  the 
truth  of  their  beliefs.  As  an  example  of  one  of  these  honest  doubters,  but  a 
man  who  according  to  his  knowledge  sought  to  uplift  his  fellows,  we  may  men- 
tion Robert  Ingersoll;  and  while  we  cannot  agree  with  his  position  in  every  par- 
ticular, yet  it  must  be  conceded  that  he  was  a  man  who  had  the  courage  of  his 
convictions,  even  though  by  following  them  he  should  cut  himself  off  from  all 
hopes  of  a  future  life.  And  there  were  many  like  him;  while  others,  bereft  of 
hope,  were  sinking  down  into  despair  because  they  had  found  nothing  in  their 
association  with  the  Churches  that  would  develop  the  spiritual  side  of  their  na- 
tures, and  not  knowing  where  to  turn,  were  going  to  the  other  extreme,  ignor- 
ing the  soul — that  which  directs  life — and  depending  entirely  upon  the  reason- 
ing of  the  brain-mind  as  the  only  way  whereby  man  might  learn  the  truth. 

Those  who  have  studied  Theosophy  know  that  Madame  Blavatsky  came 
with  a  great  message  for  all  of  these,  and  in  spite  of  her  criticism  of  the  mated- 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  5 

alistic  standpoint,  she  recognised  in  the  sincere  followers  of  that  system  an 
earnestness  and  a  desire  for  better  things  that  called  out  her  warmest  sym- 
pathy and  her  strongest  efforts  to  open  their  eyes  to  the  deeper  truths  of  the 
inner  world  that  lies  behind  and  beneath  the  material. 

However,  she  realized  that  her  time  was  limited.  She  had  so  much  to  give 
out,  it  was  her  mission  not  simply  to  touch  one  phase  of  the  thought  of  the 
world,  but  to  strike  a  chord  that  should  find  an  echo  in  the  hearts  of  all.  To 
throw  her  whole  efforts  in  one  direction  would  have  been  to  defeat  her  great 
mission  of  presenting  the  all-comprehending  truths  of  Theosophy  which  are 
for  all  classes  —  all  phases  of  thought. 

Turning  now  to  what  in  a  sense  is  the  opposite  extreme  from  materialism, 
there  are  and  were  in  the  spiritualist  ranks  hundreds  of  honest  men  and  women, 
many  of  whom  had  also  drifted  away  from  the  churches  because  their  teachings 
could  not  satisfy  them,  and  had  chosen  another  path.  Madame  Blavatsky  had 
a  message  for  these  also;  and  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  followers  of  materialism 
she  sought  to  quicken  them  to  recognise  the  truths  of  the  inner  spiritual  world, 
so  in  the  case  of  the  spiritualists  she  called  attention  to  the  same  spiritual 
world,  and  warned  them  that  that  which  they  were  investigating  was  but  an- 
other world  of  finer  matter  just  beyond  the  confines  of  this,  and  that  the  soul 
when  it  leaves  the  body  does  not  return  until  the  time  comes  for  its  next  re- 
birth into  earth-life,  when  it  takes  up  a  new  body.  It  has  been  held  by  some 
that  because  Madame  Blavatsky  investigated  Spiritualism,  therefore  she  in- 
dorsed it ;  but  such  is  very  far  from  the  truth,  as  every  student  of  her  writings 
knows.  In  Theosophy  is  to  be  found  an  explanation  of  the  phenomena  of 
Spiritualism,  and  once  that  explanation  is  understood  no  one  who  is  seeking 
the  path  of  true  spiritual  enlightenment  will  continue  to  investigate  along  such 
lines.  There  are  many  earnest  and  honest  people  among  the  followers  of 
Spiritualism,  but  there  are  some  of  whom,  unfortunately,  this  cannot  be  said. 
It  was  part  of  the  mission  of  Madame  Blavatsky  to  point  out  the  dangers  that 
are  to  be  met  with  in  following  this  line  of  research,  and  that  true  spiritual 
knowledge  does  not  lie  in  this  direction. 

We  have  said  that  both  in  the  ranks  of  materialism  and  spiritualism  there 
were  many  seeking  the  truth,  and  naturally,  as  the  world  is  today,  there  were 
also  many  seeking  prominence,  desiring  leadership,  aggressive  against  any- 
thing that  might  be  contrary  to  their  preconceived  ideas.  Hence  it  is  that  out 
of  the  ranks  of  these  two  movements  Madame  Blavatsky  found  many  an- 
tagonists; but  also  many  friends;  some  who,  leaving  materialism  or  spiritual- 
ism behind,  found  in  Theosophy  that  which  they  had  vainly  sought  along  one 
or  other  of  these  two  opposing  lines  of  thought. 

Then  too,  Madame  Blavatsky  had  a  message  to  the  great  body  of  church- 
goers which  in  a  sense  lies  between  the  extremes  of  materialism  and  spiritual- 
ism, and  so  many  of  whom  are  kept  in  apathy,  content  merely  with  sophistry, 
that  by  their  belief  and  by  following  certain  prescribed  forms  their  souls  will  be 
saved.  Not  so,  however,  with  all;  many,  while  still  remaining  within  the  fold, 
were  searching  eagerly  for  the  truth,  and  they  gladly  welcomed  Theosophy, 
which  revealed  to  them  the  real  meaning  of  the  nature  and  mission  of  Jesus 
upon  earth. 

But  out  of  the  ranks  of  church-goers  have  also  arisen  many  of  the  bitterest 


6  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

antagonists  that  Theosophy  and  especially  its  Leaders,  Madame  Blavatsky 
and  her  successors,  have  met  with.  I  shall  have  something  to  say  of  these 
later.  We  do  know,  however,  that  intolerance  exists  even  at  the  beginning  of 
this  Twentieth  Century  as  it  existed  forty  years  ago  when  Madame  Blavatsky 
came  to  this  country.  It  was  as  though  the  persecutors  of  the  truth  were 
alarmed  lest  it  should  prevail  and  cause  them  to  lose  their  privileges  and 
fancied  rights.  What  a  picture  of  slavery  to  error  is  presented  by  this  an- 
tagonism against  a  messenger  of  truth! 

Another  class  we  must  refer  to,  for  out  of  it  too  both  friends  and  enemies 
have  arisen.  I  speak  of  the  great  body  of  Scientists,  which  includes  some  of  the 
greatest  lovers  of  truth,  willing  to  sacrifice  anything  in  its  search,  yet  dogmatic, 
jealous  of  anything  that  arises  from  outside  their  ranks  or  threatens  to  over- 
turn one  of  their  pet  theories.  Every  year  however  is  revealing  more  of  the 
light  that  Theosophy  has  shed  upon  the  world  of  science;  every  year  new  cor- 
roborations are  being  made  of  the  truth  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  statements. 
Every  year  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients  is  receiving  fresh  vindication,  and  mod- 
ern science  is  approximating  more  and  more  to  the  knowledge  of  forgotten 
times. 

This  was  the  condition  of  things  in  which  Madame  Blavatsky  found  herself 
during  the  first  years  of  the  Theosophical  Society.  The  pressure  of  antagonism 
was  heavy  against  her  everywhere,  and  not  only  were  individual  representa- 
tives, and  in  a  sense  the  bodies  as  a  whole  (materialistic  and  spiritualistic  and 
church  bodies),  doing  their  utmost  to  silence  her  message,  but  many  news- 
papers (some  doubtless  catering  to  the  prejudices  of  their  readers,  and  others 
mirroring  the  personal  views  of  their  editors  —  for  only  a  few  are  truly  inde- 
pendent of  influences  from  these  quarters)  did  their  share  in  the  unbrotherly 
work,  and  by  attempted  satire  and  ridicule  sought  to  drive  Madame  Blavatsky 
from  the  field. 

The  casual  reader  knows  nothing  of  the  almost  overwhelming  effort  that 
was  made  against  her  from  all  quarters  as  if  by  concerted  action.  The  psy- 
chological influence  of  the  wave  of  persecution  spread  far  and  wide;  yet 
Madame  Blavatsky  never  faltered,  never  stopped  pouring  forth  her  volleys  of 
truth  —  her  shot  and  shell  from  the  arsenal  of  the  ancient  wisdom. 

H.  P.  Blavatsky's  work  in  India.    Temporary  Headquarters  at  Adyar. 
Coulomb  plot  exposed.    Psychical  Research  Society's  Report 

BASED  ON  statements  OF  SELF-CONFESSED  FORGERS  AND  PERJURERS. 

After  Madame  Blavatsky  had  formed  in  the  U.  S.  A.  the  Society  which,  as 
said,  attracted  many  from  difl'erent  ranks  of  thought,  she  went  to  India  and 
there  created  wide-spread  interest  among  the  most  progressive  minds,  both 
English  and  native;  and  here  again  she  found  both  friends  and  antagonists. 
The  light  from  her  torch  was  too  brilliant  and  the  power  of  her  work  too  great 
for  the  missionaries.  It  threatened  their  influence,  their  livelihood,  and  so 
(probably  under  the  advice  of  colleagues  in  America  and  Europe)  they  busied 
themselves  in  decrying  her  and  in  seeking  to  make  her  appear  as  a  charlatan 
and  a  fraud. 

This  was  in  1884.  Madame  Blavatsky  had  established  her  temporary 
Headquarters  at  Adyar,  Madras  (India)  —  which  were  paid  for  and  built  up 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  7 

very  largely  by  American  money,  many  of  the  donors  and  subscribers  to  the 
establishment  of  these  Headquarters  for  India  being  American  members  who 
later  supported  William  Q,  Judge  against  the  attacks  made  upon  him  by 
Mrs.  Besant,  Col.  Olcott,  and  their  associates,  and  who  at  that  time  took  no 
pains  to  hold  or  make  any  claim  upon  the  temporary  Indian  Headquarters 
which  they  had  so  largely  helped  to  build  up,  but  which  are  not  now  regarded 
by  the  true  followers  of  H.  P.  Blavatsky  and  W.  Q.  Judge  as  a  center  for  the 
advancement  of  Theosophy  in  the  real  sense  of  the  word. 

When  Madame  Blavatsky  left  India  she  established  her  Headquarters  at 
London,  where  she  remained  until  her  death. 

The  greatest  scandal  that  was  ever  associated  with  the  name  of  Madame 
Blavatsky  came  from  the  efforts  of  two  poor  homeless  and  destitute  French 
people  —  M.  Coulomb  and  his  wife.  Appealing  to  Madame  Blavatsky  in 
Bombay  for  food  and  shelter,  she  not  only  supplied  their  immediate  necessities, 
but  gave  them  employment  in  the  Indian  Theosophical  Headquarters  as  care- 
takers, only  to  be  met  very  soon  by  base  ingratitude  and  scheming  on  the  part 
of  these  two  adventurers. 

Madame  Blavatsky  leaving  the  Headquarters  to  return  to  Europe,  this 
man  and  his  wife  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  building  in  her  absence.  It  is  not 
necessary  here  to  tell  the  whole  story  —  how  the  man,  a  clever  carpenter,  cut  a 
hole  in  the  wall  between  two  rooms,  made  sliding  doors  and  panels  with  the 
attempt  to  show  that  Madame  Blavatsky  had  used  trickery  to  impose  upon 
the  public.  That  this  was  a  plot,  pure  and  simple,  does  not  require  further  ex- 
planation than  to  state  the  following  facts:  a  short  time  previously,  the 
woman,  Mme.  Coulomb,  had  been  discovered  in  the  attempt  to  extort  money 
from  some  members  of  the  Theosophical  Society.  In  one  instance  she  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  small  amount,  but  Madame  Blavatsky  hearing  of  it  and 
immediately  putting  a  stop  to  these  efforts  of  Mme.  Coulomb,  the  latter,  in  the 
hearing  of  reliable  witnesses,  swore  that  she  would  have  revenge. 

It  was  afterwards  learned  and  published  in  the  Madras  Daily  Mail  that  the 
missionaries  of  the  Madras  Christian  College  had  offered  to  pay  Mme.  Coulomb 
a  thousand  rupees  to  procure  certain  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  letters.  Both  M. 
and  Mme.  Coulomb  later,  when  their  actions  were  exposed,  confessed  to  this 
plot;  the  letters  which  Mme.  Coulomb  turned  over  to  the  missionaries  were 
proved  to  be  forgeries;  the  sliding  doors  and  panels  made  by  M.  Coulomb  were 
such  that  they  would  not  work  except  under  the  heavy  blows  of  a  mallet; 
and  the  false  testimony  of  these  two  people  was  met  and  refuted  by  a  large 
number  of  reliable  and  responsible  witnesses. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  when  a  young  and  beardless  youth,  just  out  of 
college,  arrived  on  the  scene  as  the  agent  of  a  society  then  recently  founded 
in  England,  which  was  anxious  to  make  some  investigations  that  would  attach 
importance  to  its  proceedings.  This  young  man  was  Mr.  Richard  Hodgson, 
agent  of  the  Psychical  Research  Society.  He  arrived  at  the  Indian  Head- 
quarters a  few  days  after  William  Q.  Judge,  the  latter  having  been  sent  by 
Madame  Blavatsky  as  her  agent  to  investigate  the  plot. 

When  Mr.  Hodgson  arrived  the  hole  in  the  wall  had  been  closed  up,  the 
sliding  doors  and  panels  removed,  and  there  was  no  trace  of  them  whatever  left 
for  him  to  see;  yet  he  gives  a  drawing  of  these,  which  in  his  report,  afterwards 


8  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

adopted  by  the  Psychical  Research  Society  and  published  in  its  proceedings,  he 
claims  to  have  made  "from  measurements  of  my  own."  This  sketch,  however,  is 
a  duplication  of  one  made  by  William  Q.  Judge  and  pirated  by  this  young  man. 
This  is  the  ground-work  upon  which  the  Psychical  Research  Society  based 
its  calumnious  report  on  the  character  and  work  of  Madame  Blavatsky.  It  is 
not  difficult  to  see  how  the  intolerant  appetite  of  her  persecuting  enemies  was 
fed  by  these  false  statements,  nor  is  it  surprising  that  the  sensational  papers  all 
over  the  world  published  the  alleged  expose  of  the  Theosophical  Society.  But 
so  far  as  I  know  there  were  no  papers  in  this  country  interested  enough  to  seek 
for  Madame  Blavatsky's  answer  to  these  accusations  or  to  publish  what  her 
friends  had  to  say  in  her  vindication;  and  so  it  is  that  even  today  every  now 
and  then  one  hears  an  echo  of  this  Psychical  Research  Society  Report  (which 
so  far  as  I  know  still  exists  upon  their  books),  though  as  shown  again  and  again 
it  is  absolutely  worthless,  based  upon  the  false  statements  of  self-confessed 
forgers  and  ingrates  and  upon  the  word  of  a  young  man  who  does  not  scruple 
to  claim  the  drawing  of  another  as  his  own. 

Dr.  Elliot  Coues  Attacks  W.  Q.  Judge.    His  Lies  Nailed.    Expelled 
FROM  Society.    New  York  'Sun'  publishes  libel  against 
H.  P.  Blavatsky  —  later  publishes  honorable  retraction 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  general  attitude  of  the  scientists,  and  out  of 
their  ranks  was  found  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Theosophical  Move- 
ment —  at  first  posing  as  a  friend  and  possibly  for  a  time  sincere  in  his  adher- 
ence to  the  Theosophical  teachings  —  a  man  of  intellect  and  ability,  but  with 
the  lurking  seeds  of  ambition  in  his  nature  and  a  desire  to  lead. 

When  Madame  Blavatsky  left  this  country  for  India,  there  remained  in 
charge  of  the  work  William  Q.  Judge,  and  as  Madame  Blavatsky  herself  said 
when  writing  to  the  American  members  in  1888,  it  was  to  him  alone  that  was 
due  the  preservation  of  Theosophy  in  America. 

The  man  to  whom  I  now  wish  to  refer,*  Dr.  Elliot  Coues  by  name,  was  a 
well-known  scientist  in  Washington,  D.  C.  Desirous  of  power  and  supreme 
authority  in  the  Theosophical  Society  in  the  United  States,  he  wrote  to  Ma- 
dame Blavatsky,  first  suggesting  that  she  place  him  in  authority  and  depose 
William  Q.  Judge  from  his  position,  then  accusing  William  Q.  Judge  and 
threatening  that  unless  he  were  placed  in  authority  he  would  ruin  the  Society. 
Any  one  who  knows  Madame  Blavatsky  knows  that  she  was  never  to  be 
swerved  from  the  path  of  justice,  nor  to  be  moved  by  threat,  nor  would  she 
desert  a  faithful  pupil  and  colleague  such  as  William  Q.  Judge  ever  proved  him- 
self to  be;  and  because  of  the  un-theosophical  attitude,  contrary  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  Theosophy,  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Coues,  she  summarily  expelled  him 
from  the  ranks.  Seeking  to  carry  out  his  threat  and  destroy  the  Theosophical 
Movement,  this  man  gave  false,  libelous  information  to  the  New  York  Sun, 
defaming  the  character  of  Madame  Blavatsky.  This  was  published,  and 
immediately  libel  proceedings  were  commenced  by  William  Q.  Judge  on  behalf 
of  Madame  Blavatsky  against  this  paper,  the  New  York  Sun.  While  the  libel 
suit  was  still  pending,  not  having  yet  come  to  trial,  Madame  Blavatsky  died, 
which  technically  annulled  all  proceedings,  leaving  the  paper  free  and 
Madame  Blavatsky's  memory  to  that  extent  unvindicated. 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  9 

The  following  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  incidents  in  the  history 
of  the  Theosophical  Movement.  Shortly  after  Madame  Blavatsky's  death  the 
editor  of  the  New  York  Sun,  Mr.  Dana,  took  advantage  of  an  opportunity  that 
was  offered  him  of  learning  some  of  the  facts  regarding  Madame  Blavatsky  and 
her  character  and  work,  and  in  accordance  with  his  high  principles,  and  the 
high  standard  of  honor  for  which  he  has  always  been  noted,  voluntarily  pub- 
lished the  following  editorial  in  the  New  York  Sun  of  September  26th,  1892: 

We  print  on  another  page  an  article  in  which  Mr.  William  Q  Judge  deals  with 
the  romantic  and  extraordinary  career  of  the  late  Madame  Helena  P.  Blavatsky, 
the  Theosophist.  We  take  occasion  to  observe  that  on  July  20th,  1890,  we  were 
misled  into  admitting  to  the  Sun's  columns  an  article  by  Dr.  E.  F.  Coues  of 
Washington,  in  which  allegation?  were  made  against  Madame  Blavatsky's  charac- 
ter, and  also  against  her  followers,  which  appear  to  have  been  without  solid 
foundation.  Mr.  Judge's  article  disposes  of  all  questions  relating  to  Madame 
Blavatsky  as  presented  by  Dr.  Coues,  and  we  desire  to  say  that  his  allegations 
respecting  the  Theosophical  Society  and  Mr.  Judge  personally  are  not  sustained 
by  evidence  and  should  not  have  been  printed. 

As  before  with  other  attacks,  many  papers  had  published  references  to  Dr. 
Coues  and  the  bitter  attack  against  Madame  Blavatsky  in  the  New  York  Sun, 
but  I  do  not  know  that  any  published  the  Sun's  editorial  retraction,  or  even 
made  reference  to  it.  It  would  appear  that  they  had  interest  only  in  what 
might  tend  to  the  defamation  of  Madame  Blavatsky,  but  not  in  the  correction 
of  the  false  report  and  the  vindication  of  her  character,  and  so  it  was  that  the 
adverse  comments  that  were  made  generally  throughout  the  country,  to  some 
extent  even  now  still  remain  in  the  minds  of  those  who  may  have  read  them. 

Outside  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  students,  and  the  students  of  her  succes- 
sors, William  Q.  Judge  and  Katherine  Tingley  —  those  who  are  giving  their 
energy  and  time  to  the  furtherance  of  the  Theosophical  Cause  —  there  are  few 
who  realize  the  magnitude  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  work.  Her  writings  alone 
are  colossal  in  the  extent  of  mental  territory  they  cover,  and  the  marvelous 
light  that  they  shed  on  the  great  problems  of  existence.  Her  Isis  Unveiled 
called  forth  a  storm  of  criticism,  for  as  she  said  in  the  preface  it  was  "offered  to 
such  as  are  willing  to  accept  truth  wherever  it  may  be  found,  and  to  defend  it, 
even  looking  popular  prejudice  straight  in  the  face."  It  was  the  first  great 
challenge  of  Theosophy,  the  Ancient  Wisdom- Religion,  to  dogmatism,  both  of 
science  and  theology,  and  a  challenge  to  sham  and  superstition  wherever  found. 
The  greatest  of  her  works  followed  some  years  later,  in  1888,  The  Secret  Doc- 
trine, a  work  colossal  in  its  magnitude,  revealing  a  scheme  of  evolution  in  which 
the  Darwinian  theory,  so  far  as  it  is  true,  is  but  a  chapter,  and  embracing  not 
only  man,  but  worlds  and  systems  of  worlds.  What  were  looked  upon  by  su- 
perficial and  prejudiced  people  when  these  books  were  first  published  as  so 
many  vagaries  and  wild  dreams,  are  yearly  receiving  corroboration  as  scientific 
fact.  For  her  students  she  wrote  The  Key  to  Theosophy,  and  for  those  who 
sought  the  path  of  the  inner  spiritual  life  she  pubhshed  The  Voice  of  the  Silence. 

H.  P.  Blavatsky  the  central  figure  and  Teacher.    Aided  by 
W.  Q.  Judge,  who  alone  responds  to  inner  purpose  of 
Theosophical  work. 

In  speaking  of  the  formation  of  the  Theosophical  Society  in  1875  it  must  be 


10  HISTORICAL     INCIDENTS     OF 

remembered  that  it  was  for  this  purpose  that  Madame  Blavatsky  came  to 
America;  that  the  plan  was  hers,  but  that  unfamiliar  with  conditions  in  West- 
ern countries  she  instructed  Col.  H,  S.  Olcott  and  William  Q.  Judge  to  attend 
to  the  details  of  its  organization;  but  it  was  she,  Madame  Blavatsky  alone, 
who  had  the  knowledge  which  was  to  be  the  basis  and  the  guide  of  the  present 
Theosophical  Movement,  and  this  she  had  not  only  from  her  studies  and 
travels,  but  from  her  Teacher  —  one  of  the  few  men  now  living  who  have  know- 
ledge of  the  deeper  truths  of  Hfe  —  the  wisdom  possessed  by  the  ancients,  not 
recorded  in  books,  or  handed  down  in  archives,  but  passed  from  one  to  another 
down  the  ages  by  word  of  mouth,  and  whose  representatives  today  stand  back 
of  and  are  sustainers  of  the  present  Theosophical  Movement,  as  represented  by 
Katherine  Tingley  and  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical 
Society.  Col.  Olcott,  whom  Madame  Blavatsky  met  shortly  before  she 
formed  the  Theosophical  Society  in  New  York,  had  up  to  that  time  known 
nothing  at  all  about  Theosophy.  While  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that 
he  was  sincere,  yet  we  have  no  evidence  that  he  made  any  great  effort  to  lead 
the  Theosophic  life;  but  no  doubt  Madame  Blavatsky  saw  that  he  had  possi- 
bilities of  faithfulness  and  service,  and  so,  as  with  many  others,  she  gave  him 
his  chance.  In  her  modesty  and  unselfish  desire  to  bring  Theosophy  to  the 
attention  of  all  people  and  make  it  a  telling  power  in  the  world,  she  sounded 
Col.  Olcott's  praises  so  far  as  she  could,  and  he  was  named  President-Founder, 
being  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  Society  for  the  first  year  of  its  existence. 
It  should  be  mentioned  here  that  his  term  of  office  was  defined  as  for  one  year, 
and  that  he  was  never  legally  re-elected.  Please  remember  that  in  her  treat- 
ment of  Col.  Olcott,  as  all  her  students  know,  Madame  Blavatsky  showed  her 
great  wisdom,  using  every  means  to  call  out  the  higher  nature  of  the  man  and 
give  him  the  opportunity  to  develop  along  higher  lines,  which,  if  he  had  con- 
tinued to  avail  himself  of  them  after  she  died,  would  have  made  his  name  one 
of  the  most  respected  in  the  history  of  the  Theosophical  Movement. 

As  for  William  Q.  Judge  who,  in  addition  to  his  splendid  business  qualities 
and  legal  ability,  had  as  well  high  spiritual  attainments  —  of  all  H.  P.  Blavat- 
sky's  students  and  colleagues,  he  stood  the  closest  to  her,  as  shown  by  her  cor- 
respondence and  writings,  and  he  received  from  her  some  of  the  priceless  in- 
structions regarding  the  deeper  truths  of  life,  which  she  gave  to  no  other  of  her 
disciples.  His  life  and  character  were  proof  to  those  who  knew  him  that  he  was 
soulfully  imbued  with  the  high  purpose  of  serving  humanity.  Probably  one 
great  incentive  in  his  life  in  this  direction  was  the  inborn  consciousness  that  he 
had  of  the  conditions  of  his  native  land  —  church-ridden  Ireland.  He  resided 
in  Dublin  until  he  was  thirteen  and  then,  his  mother  having  died,  he  came  with 
his  father  to  this  country.  In  New  York  he  studied  law,  and  was  beginning  to 
achieve  success  in  its  practice.  Not  satisfied,  however,  with  the  ordinary  aims 
of  life  he  was  searching  for  its  deeper  meaning,  and  in  his  search,  Madame  Bla- 
vatsky hearing  of  him  sent  for  him.  This  was  in  1874,  and  from  then  until 
her  death  he  was  her  faithful  disciple  and  colleague  and  afterwards  became  her 
successor. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Society  we  therefore  have  Madame  Blavatsky  as  a 
central  figure,  with  her  two  helpers,  William  Q.  Judge  and  Col.  Olcott,  the 
latter  helping  in  outer  exoteric  lines,  in  matters  of  the  outer  business  of  the  or- 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  11 

ganization,  and  the  former,  William  Q.  Judge,  working  in  the  outer  organiza- 
tion with  Col.  Olcott,  but  also  receiving  instructions  not  only  from  his  teacher 
H.  P.  Blavatsky  but  directly  from  the  same  source  from  which  she  received  her 
knowledge  (our  authority  for  this  is  Madame  Blavatsky  herself),  and  working 
with  her  toward  the  upbuilding  of  the  spiritual  life  of  mankind.  Under  her  di- 
rection and  with  his  spiritual  insight,  which  was  recognised  among  the  few 
faithful  ones  who  were  near  him,  he  formulated  the  rules  of  the  Esoteric  School, 
which  at  his  request  Madame  Blavatsky  established  in  1888.  I  shall  speak  of 
this  later. 

Even  ordinary  students  of  human  nature  and  of  the  conditions  that  ob- 
tained when  Madame  Blavatsky  established  this  Society  can  see  that  with  the 
exception  of  William  Q.  Judge,  none  of  those  who  started  with  her  in  this  work 
were  deeply  grounded  in  spiritual  truths,  or  in  soul  life,  and  as  was  later  proved 
there  was  at  that  time  WilHam  Q.  Judge  alone  who  saw  the  real  purpose  of  her 
work,  and  responded  to  her  teachings.  Thus  there  was  a  danger  among  those 
who  became  associated  with  Madame  Blavatsky  that  ambition  would  grow. 
We  see  the  two  men  who  were  closest  to  her,  who  had  the  same  opportunity, 
one  moving  on  so  long  as  Madame  Blavatsky  was  there  to  direct  his  move- 
ments and  hold  him  in  check,  doing  much  excellent  work  for  the  Society,  but, 
as  was  clearly  shown  after  Madame  Blavatsky  had  passed  away,  permitting 
the  seeds  of  ambition  and  vanity  to  grow.  Later  he  forgot  the  obligations  he 
was  under  to  his  teacher,  and  sought  to  discredit  her  influence  in  the  spread  of 
Theosophy  in  order  that  he  might  fill  a  larger  place  in  its  history.  Looking  at 
the  other  man,  it  can  be  seen  that  every  act  of  William  Q.  Judge  showed  his 
growth  into  a  wider  consciousness  and  deeper  knowledge.  The  subordination 
of  his  personality,  his  modesty  in  going  before  the  people,  never  taking  advan- 
tage of  his  position  to  exercise  an  influence  over  them,  all  were  indicative  of  the 
man;  and  all  the  time  there  went  out  from  him  in  correspondence,  and  in  his 
writings  as  editor  of  his  magazine,  The  Path  —  even  from  his  very  presence  —  a 
spiritual  uplifting  influence  which  has  been  a  source  of  help  to  many  faithful 
students  who  now  revere  his  memory  and  seek  to  pattern  their  lives  after  his. 

So  little  aid  had  William  Q.  Judge  in  the  early  days  that  in  his  magazine, 
The  Path,  founded  and  edited  by  him,  often  all  the  articles  were  by  himself, 
written  over  different  pseudonyms,  yet  so  versatile  was  he  that  none  could 
have  recognised  it.  Often  he  would  work  in  his  law  office  all  day  and  then 
write  all  night  for  his  magazine,  or  sometimes  paint  sketches  which  he  would 
sell  to  art  dealers  for  money  to  pay  the  printers  or  buy  postage  stamps  for  The- 
osophical  work.  And  then  his  correspondence  to  all  parts  of  the  world :  how 
many  would  apply  to  him  for  teaching,  for  a  solution  of  their  difficulties,  for 
advice,  and  his  words  were  as  healing  balm  on  many  a  throbbing  wound. 

This  was  the  man  whom  Dr.  Elliot  Coues  had  sought  to  vilify  and  displace. 

For  her  Society,  for  the  cause  of  Theosophy,  Madame  Blavatsky  counted 
her  own  life  as  nought;  she  sacrificed  herself  at  times  almost  recklessly.  Real- 
izing the  limited  time  she  had  in  this  one  incarnation  and  the  awful  need  of  the 
world,  the  spiritual  pride  and  darkness,  the  people  crying  for  a  light  to  guide 
them  —  she  worked  night  and  day,  writing,  writing,  writing,  that  the  message 
of  Theosophy  surging  from  her  heart  and  illuminating  her  mind  might  be 
recorded  for  all  future  generations. 


12  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

Suffering  intensely  from  overwork,  by  the  force  of  her  will  she  maintained 
life  in  her  tired  body  until  she  had  sown  the  seed.  Yet  it  is  beyond  doubt  that 
this  last  attack  by  Dr.  Elliot  Coues  and  the  New  York  Sun  helped  to  shorten 
her  days.  It  caused  too  a  sifting  of  some  of  the  half-hearted  from  the  ranks  of 
the  Theosophical  Society.  At  every  attack  there  have  been  some  few  who  have 
drifted  away  —  the  fear  of  being  blamed,  of  identification  with  an  unpopular 
cause,  have  obscured  their  love  for  humanity,  and  like  soldiers  deserting  at  the 
first  shot  from  the  enemy,  they  fled  the  ranks;  like  Peter  denying  his  Master, 
they  threw  mud  at  their  Teacher.  It  was  about  this  time,  1888,  that  Mrs. 
Annie  Besant  sought  an  interview  with  H.  P.  Blavatsky.  She  showed  a  deep 
interest  in  Theosophy,  and  there  are  those  who  can  testify  that  she  realized  and 
admitted  the  errors  in  her  former  views  as  publicly  promulgated  by  her,  which 
in  many  ways  were  the  very  antithesis  of  Theosophy.  Remember,  that  at  that 
time  Mrs.  Besant  was  before  the  public,  not  popular,  it  is  true,  but  accustomed 
to  public  work  of  a  certain  nature,  and  Madame  Blavatsky  was  in  need  of  all 
the  help  she  could  obtain.  Thus  when  Mrs.  Besant  came  to  her  she  gave  her  an 
opportunity  to  reconstruct  her  life  and  become  a  worker  in  the  Theosophic 
Cause. 

Formation  of  Esoteric  Section.    H.  P.  Blavatsky's  endorsement 

OF  W.  Q.  Judge. 

It  was  announced  that  I  would  relate  some  incidents  in  the  history  of  the 
Theosophical  Movement  which  have  not  hitherto  been  made  public,  and  one  of 
these,  or  rather  a  series  of  them,  is  connected  with  the  history  of  what  among 
students  was  formerly  known  as  the  Esoteric  Section,  or  the  Esoteric  School  of 
Theosophy.  This  inner  body  of  students  was  re-organized  by  Katherine 
Tingley  in  1898,  at  the  same  time  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theo- 
sophical Society  adopted  its  new  constitution  at  Chicago.  Now  I  have  per- 
mission from  Mme.  Tingley  to  tell  you  something  of  its  history. 

In  1888,  the  same  year  in  which  The  Secret  Doctrine,  Madame  Blavatsky's 
greatest  work,  was  published,  William  Q.  Judge  from  New  York  wrote  to 
Madame  Blavatsky  in  London  suggesting  the  formation  of  a  body  of  students, 
to  consist  of  those  who  were  earnestly  seeking  to  make  Theosophy  a  practical 
power  in  their  daily  lives,  and  for  the  aid  that  would  come  from  the  study  of  its 
deeper  teachings.  Many  people  have  wondered  what  was  the  great  power  that 
has  held  this  organization  together.  There  have  been  many  reasons  for  its 
growth  and  strength,  but  one  especially  has  been  this  body  of  students  just  re- 
ferred to,  binding  them  together  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Theosophical  work. 

On  the  request  of  his  Teacher,  Madame  Blavatsky,  William  Q.  Judge 
drafted  the  rules  of  that  body  under  which  it  is  still  governed.  In  this  body  of 
students  a  pledge  was  taken  which  I  have  Mme.  Tingley's  permission  to  read  to 
you,  but  before  doing  so  it  will  no  doubt  be  of  interest  to  you  to  know  that  at 
the  time  of  Katherine  Tingley's  libel  suit  against  the  Los  Angeles  Times,  and 
its  editor.  General  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  the  position  taken  by  the  defendants 
was  that  all  students  of  Theosophy  were  bound  by  a  pledge  to  obey  Katherine 
Tingley  in  every  detail  of  their  lives.  As  to  how  far  they  are  pledged  you  will 
presently  see.  The  pledge  was  introduced  by  the  opposing  attorney,  and  was 
probably  obtained  from  the  hands  of  an  unfaithful  member.    As  Katherine 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  13 

Tingley  said  at  the  time,  nothing  could  have  served  her  case  better,  for  it  shows 
plainly  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  obligation  binding  students  to  obey 
Katherine  Tingley  personally  or  in  any  other  interest  in  their  lives  except  as 
students  of  Theosophy  —  she  the  Teacher,  they  the  students.  The  pledge  was 
read  in  Court,  and  it  was  very  amusing  to  notice  the  confusion  of  the  defend- 
ant's attorneys  when  they  realized  that  the  obligation  to  follow  the  Leader  and 
Official  Head  —  Katherine  Tingley  —  of  this  Organization,  was  in  respect 
only  to  Theosophic  duties,  and  contains  not  one  word  of  reference,  nor  does  it 
include  any  hint,  as  to  anything  outside  specific  work  for  the  Theosophical 
Movement.    This  obligation,  then,  is  as  follows: 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  Col.  Olcott  was  never  allowed  by  Madame  Bla- 
vatsky  to  become  a  member  of  this  Esoteric  Section,  and  after  her  death,  when 
no  longer  under  her  inspiring  influence  and  restraint,  it  was  shown  in  his  corre- 
spondence and  in  other  ways  that  he  had  the  greatest  jealousy  not  only  of  this 
body,  but  also  of  Mr.  Judge  personally.  William  Q.  Judge  was  the  only  mem- 
ber in  the  Esoteric  body  of  whom  H.  P.  Blavatsky  required  no  pledge,  for  he,  as 
Madame  Blavatsky  herself  states,  had  given  his  pledge  to  her  own  Teacher  thir- 
teen years  previously,  namely  in  1875,  which  was  the  year  of  the  foundation  of 
the  Theosophical  Society  in  New  York.  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  who  did  not  join 
the  organization  until  thirteen  years  later,  1888,  became  a  pledged  member  of 
this  Esoteric  body,  and  was  pledged  to  observe  the  rules. 

Now  as  to  William  Q.  Judge's  position  in  the  Theosophical  Movement. 
We  have  seen  how  when  he  was  attacked  by  Dr.  Elliot  Coues,  Madame  Bla- 
vatsky stood  by  and  defended  him.  Let  me  quote  from  an  official  letter 
written  by  Madame  Blavatsky  to  the  Convention  of  the  American  Societies 
in  1888.    The  letter  began  as  follows: 

To  William  Q.  Judge,  General  Secretary  of  the  American  Section  of  the 
Theosophical  Society: 

My  dearest  Brother  and  Co-founder  of  the  Theosophical  Society: 
In  addressing  to  you  this  letter,  which  I  request  you  to  read  to  the  Convention 
summoned  for  April  22d,  I  must  first  present  my  hearty  congratulations  and 
most  cordial  good  wishes  to  the  Society  and  to  yourself  —  the  heart  and  soul  of 
that  body  in  America.  We  were  several  to  call  it  to  life  in  1875.  Since  then 
you  have  remained  alone  to  preserve  that  life  through  good  and  evil  report.  It 
is  to  you  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  that  the  Theosophical  Society  owes  its  existence 
in  1888.  Let  me  thank  you  for  it,  for  the  first,  and  perhaps  for  the  last  time 
publicly  and  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  which  beats  only  for  the  cause  you 
represent  so  well  and  serve  so  faithfully.  I  ask  you  also  to  remember  that, 
on  this  important  occasion,  my  voice  is  but  the  feeble  echo  of  other  more  sacred 
voices,  and  the  transmitter  of  the  approval  of  Those  whose  presence  is  alive 
in  more  than  one  true  Theosophical  heart,  and  lives,  as  I  know,  pre-eminently 
in  yours. 

Further,  H.  P.  Blavatsky,  in  December  of  the  same  year,  wrote  the  following  -. 

As  Head  of  the  Esoteric  Section  of  the  Theosophical  Society,  I  hereby  de- 
clare that  William  Q.  Judge  of  New  York,  U.  S.  A.,  in  virtue  of  his  character 
as  a  disciple  of  thirteen  years'  standing  and  of  the  trust  and  confidence  reposed 
in  him,  is  my  only  representative  for  said  Section  in  America,  and  he  is  the  sole 
channel  through  whom  will  be  sent  and  received  all  communications  between  the 
members  of  the  said  Section  and  myself,  and  to  him  fuU  faith,  confidence,  and 
credit  in  that  regard  are  to  be  given. 


14  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

And  as  if  in  prophetic  anticipation  of  the  outrageous  attack  later  made 
upon  him  by  Mrs.  Besant,  to  whom  Madame  Blavatsky  had  given  the  oppor- 
tunity to  hve  the  better  Hfe,  and  the  bitter  onslaughts  of  ambition  against  his 
position  so  faithfully  held  by  him,  H.  P.  Blavatsky,  on  October  23, 1889,  wrote: 

The  Esoteric  Section  and  its  life  in  the  U.  S.  A.  depend  upon  W.  Q.  Judge 
remaining  its  agent  and  what  he  is  now.  The  day  W.  Q.  Judge  resigns,  H.  P. 
Blavatsky  will  be  virtually  dead  for  the  Americans. 

Furthermore,  Madame  Blavatsky  declared  in  writing  that  after  her  death 
W.  Q.  Judge  was  to  take  her  place  in  America,  and  no  other  construction  or 
meaning  can  be  placed  upon  these  statements  save  to  regard  them  as  being 
actually  meant  by  Madame  Blavatsky,  and  that  in  such  case,  should  William 
Q.  Judge  resign  it  would  mean  the  death  of  Theosophy  in  America.  The 
application  of  this  we  shall  refer  to  later. 

As  said.  Col.  H.  S.  Olcott,  the  first  President  of  the  Society,  never  was  a 
member  of  this  inner  body  of  students,  which,  as  we  know,  was  the  soul  and 
life  of  the  Theosophical  Society,  the  latter  being  but  the  outer  form  for  the  dis- 
semination of  exoteric  teachings  to  the  public;  also  that  William  Q.  Judge  was 
the  only  member  who  was  not  required  to  take  a  pledge  therein;  that  Mrs. 
Annie  Besant  was  a  pledged  member,  pledged  to  observe  the  rules;  that  later, 
Madame  Blavatsky,  to  encourage  her  in  her  work,  appointed  her  as  Recorder 
of  the  teachings  which  Madame  Blavatsky  gave  to  her  students. 

H.  P.  Blavatsky's  death.     Society  re-organized.     Enormous  majority 
SUPPORTS  W.  Q.  Judge.    He  dies  shortly  after  vindication. 

After  H.  P.  Blavatsky's  death  W.  Q.  Judge  —  whose  position  as  Teacher 
and  successor  of  Madame  Blavatsky  was  assured  by  the  latter' s  written  state- 
ments, and  who  was  moreover  the  only  one  qualified  for  that  position  by  virtue 
of  his  knowledge,  his  service,  and  his  long  training  under  H.  P.  Blavatsky  and 
her  Teachers  —  gave  to  Mrs.  Besant  the  greatest  opportunity  of  her  life  for 
spiritual  progress  —  an  opportunity  to  show  her  loyalty  to  her  teacher  H.  P. 
Blavatsky,  and  her  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Theosophy.  Doubtless  supposing 
that  she  would  carry  out  her  professions  in  act,  appealing  to  the  best  side  of  her 
nature,  and  as  she  was  free  to  give  her  time  and  energy  to  the  Theosophical 
Cause,  he  gave  to  her  this  opportunity  to  help  in  carrying  out  the  plan  of  work 
begun  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky.  It  must  be  remembered  that  at  that  time  she 
showed  no  sign  outwardly  of  the  ambition  which  later  developed,  and  one  may 
charitably  suppose  that  she  was  making  a  sincere  effort  to  lead  a  Theosophic 
life  that  she  might  better  help  humanity. 

For  a  time  after  Madame  Blavatsky's  death,  to  all  appearances,  Mrs. 
Besant  worked  faithfully.  Not  a  year  had  passed,  however,  before  the  first 
prominent  symptom  of  her  ambition  showed  itself  in  her  accusation  against 
Col.  H.  S.  Olcott,  whose  resignation  from  the  Presidency  (which  office  he  held 
only  by  courtesy,  not  legally)  she  demanded.  Under  this  unbrotherly  pressure 
and  threats  of  Mrs.  Besant,  Col.  Olcott  did  resign,  but  William  Q.  Judge,  using 
all  his  influence,  persuaded  the  American  members  to  adopt  such  action  as  to 
prevent  this  from  taking  effect,  and  he  ultimately  withdrew  his  resignation. 
Failing  in  her  efforts  in  this  direction,  and  there  being  but  Col.  Olcott  and 
William  Q.  Judge  between  her  and  the  goal  of  her  ambition,  which  —  such  was 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  15 

the  opinion  of  many  of  the  faithful  students  of  Theosophy  —  was  to  govern  the 
Theosophical  Society  throughout  the  world,  and  much  to  the  surprise  of  some 
of  her  fellow- workers  who  had  heretofore  trusted  her,  Mrs.  Besant  began  subtle 
attempts  to  undermine  the  influence  of  Mr.  Judge.  This  she  attempted  to  do 
first  by  secret  correspondence  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  in  direct  violation  of  her 
solemn  and  sacred  pledge,  which  was  "I  pledge  myself  never  to  listen  without 
protest  to  any  evil  thing  spoken  of  a  Brother  Theosophist,  and  to  abstain 
from  condemning  others,"  seeking  for  and  listening  to  unproven,  unprovable, 
and  utterly  false  statements  against  him. 

Her  charge  against  William  Q.  Judge  was  that  certain  statements  given  by 
him  as  coming  from  his  Teacher  in  India,  who,  as  said,  had  also  been  Madame 
Blavatsky's  Teacher,  were,  to  quote  her  own  words,  "given  a  misleading 
form."  There  is  no  question  that  many  of  the  public,  hearing  of  Mrs.  Besant's 
accusations,  came  to  think  that  he  had  committed  some  immoral,  dishonest, 
and  criminal  act.  Think  of  it !  The  absurdity  of  this  member  so  recently  come 
into  the  work  —  for  remember  she  did  not  enter  the  Theosophical  work  until 
1888  —  who  had  never  been  a  direct  pupil  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  Teacher, 
but  only  of  Madame  Blavatsky  herself  —  the  absurdity  of  her  presuming  to- 
stand  in  judgment  of  an  advanced,  accepted,  and  faithful  worker  such  as 
William  Q.  Judge!  Finally,  in  1894,  she  openly  attacked  him,  as  well  as  the 
honor  of  her  own  teacher,  H.  P.  Blavatsky.  So  determined  was  she  to  carry  her 
point  and  bring  her  plans  to  fruition,  so  insidious  were  the  disintegrating  forces 
set  in  motion  by  her,  and  so  subversive  of  the  principles  on  which  were  founded 
the  Theosophical  Movement,  and  especially  the  inner  body  of  students,  of 
which,  as  said,  Mrs.  Besant  was  a  pledged  member,  pledged  to  observe  the 
rules,  that  for  a  time  it  appeared  as  though  the  harmony  of  the  Society  would 
be  so  disturbed  that  it  would  take  a  long  time  before  it  could  recover.  And 
remember  too  that  William  Q.  Judge  at  that  time  was  ill  and  overworked. 

Moreover,  in  spite  of  Madame  Blavatsky's  statement  regarding  William  Q. 
Judge,  that  "The  day  W.  Q.  Judge  resigns,  H.  P.  Blavatsky  will  be  virtually 
dead  for  the  Americans,"  Mrs.  Besant  used  every  means  to  force  him  to 
resign;  thus  again  setting  her  Teacher  at  naught,  at  the  same  time  trying  to 
cajole  him  with  a  promise  that  if  he  would  resign,  he  could  still  have  some 
place  in  the  Theosophical  Society. 

Is  it  not  plain  to  see  that  Mrs.  Besant  was  willing  to  sacrifice  the  whole 
Theosophical  Society  to  gain  her  end?  for  she  took  a  position  directly  opposed 
to  the  emphatic  statement  of  her  own  Teacher,  Madame  Blavatsky. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  American  members,  headed  by  the  Aryan 
Theosophical  Society  of  New  York  and  the  Boston  Society,  determined  to  take 
action.  Finally  at  the  annual  Convention  of  the  American  Societies  at  Boston 
in  1895,  by  a  vote  of  191  delegates  to  10,  William  Q.  Judge  was  elected  President 
for  life,  Mrs.  Besant  being  voted  out  of  the  Society  and  all  connexion  with  her 
and  her  associates  severed  and  repudiated.  This  vote  represented  a  majority 
of  the  active  members  throughout  the  world,  and  this  majority  was  still  further 
increased  by  similar  action  being  taken  by  members  in  England,  Holland, 
Sweden,  Germany,  Australia,  India,  and  other  countries.  In  India  there  was 
on  the  roll  an  apparently  large  number  of  branches  of  the  Theosophical  Society 
that  supported  Mrs.  Besant,  but  upon  investigation  it  was  found  that  in  very 


16  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

many  instances  these  branches  existed  only  on  paper  or  had  one  or  two  active 
members  in  good  standing.  This  was  later  confirmed  by  Katherine  Tingley 
when  she  visited  India  on  her  first  Crusade  around  the  world  in  1896-7,  when 
her  agents  made  careful  investigation. 

Thus  was  William  Q.  Judge  vindicated,  but  he  lived  only  eleven  months 
longer  and  passed  away  March  21,  1896,  after  intense  suffering  due  in  the  main 
to  the  malicious  persecution  to  which  he  had  been  subjected. 

The  principal  agitator  against  William  Q.  Judge  in  this  country  and  chief 
promoter  of  the  repudiated  body,  at  the  head  of  which  is  Mrs.  Besant,  was 
Alexander  Fullerton,  whose  downward  path  evidently  began  at  about  that 
time,  and  which  at  last  caused  him  to  be  arrested  for  sending  immoral  matter 
through  the  mails  to  a  boy  —  I  shall  refer  to  this  again. 

As  Madame  Blavatsky  has  said,  "Facts  are  pitchforks,"  but  they  must  be 
brought  out  if  we  are  to  protect  the  weak  and  the  innocent.  We  must  refer 
to  and  protest  against  such  things,  else  in  a  sense  we  become  a  party  to  them; 
and  unpleasant  as  it  is,  if  we  have  the  knowledge  we  have  also  the  duty  to  see 
that  the  public  is  warned. 

The  wisdom  of  the  action  that  was  taken  at  the  1895  Convention  at  Boston 
has  been  amply  proved,  and  the  very  fact  that  from  time  to  time  false  state- 
ments are  made  by  those  who  feel  it  to  their  interest  to  mislead  the  public  to 
further  their  own  ends,  gives  a  further  source  of  congratulation  that  they  are 
not  in  any  way  identified  with  us,  to  the  end  that  the  real  Theosophical  work 
may  not  be  obstructed.  There  are  many  inquirers  seeking  the  right  path  all 
the  time,  as  well  as  new  members,  to  whom  we  owe  a  duty;  and  besides  we 
must  have  a  true  record  of  history  to  pass  down  to  succeeding  generations. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theoso- 
phical Society  does  not  issue  any  statement  as  to  the  number  of  its  branches 
or  members.  It  has  no  need  for  doing  so.  Its  influence  is  world-wide  and  is 
felt  in  every  country  of  the  globe.  The  great  bulk  of  the  membership  in  the 
Organization  is  what  is  known  as  membership-at-large ;  and  such  members  are 
directly  attached  through  correspondence  and  association  with  our  Inter- 
national Headquarters  at  Point  Loma. 

Katherine  Tingley  successor  to  W.  Q.  Judge  and  H.  P.  Blavatsky. 
Enormous  increase  in  membership.    Katherine  Tingley's  insistence 

ON  THE  application  OF  ThEOSOPHY  TO  EVERYDAY  LIFE.     BiTTER  ATTACKS 

against  Theosophical  Institution  at  Point  Loma.    Katherine 

Tingley  sues  Los  Angeles  'Times'  for  libel.-    Dastardly 

anonymous  attacks  against  katherine  tingley. 

In  March,  1896,  Mr.  Judge  died,  leaving  as  his  successor  Katherine 
Tingley,  who  for  several  years  had  been  associated  with  him  in  the  work  of  the 
Society.  In  the  early  days  there  had  to  be  branches  —  we  had  not  then  our 
printing  presses  nor  our  extensive  correspondence  and  propaganda  bureaus; 
but  when  Katherine  Tingley  visited  the  branches  during  her  first  Theosophical 
Crusade  around  the  world  shortly  after  the  death  of  William  Q.  Judge,  she 
found  that  during  the  two  years'  illness  of  Mr.  Judge  before  his  death  all  sorts 
of  abuses  had  crept  into  many  of  these  branches:  often  a  man  with  a  loud  voice 
and  a  dominant  personality,  who  perhaps,  even  with  a  collegiate  education, 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  17 

had  made  no  success  whatever  in  his  Ufe  in  the  outer  world,  would  force  himself 
to  the  front,  energetic  perhaps  on  material  and  mental  lines,  but  as  to  spiritual- 
ity wofully  lacking  and  wholly  unfitted  for  the  directing  of  a  local  body  of  The- 
osophical  students.  Others  sought  to  make  the  branches  a  stamping-ground 
for  the  airing  of  their  own  personal  views  and  for  the  gratification  of  their 
ambition  either  to  obtain  a  position  of  power  or  to  air  their  opinions  before  the 
public,  and  the  majority  of  the  branches  then  existing  were  subject  to  these 
conditions. 

Thus  it  has  been  that  there  were  many  occasions  to  discourage  the  continu- 
ation of  centers  and  the  formation  of  new  ones;  for  the  spread  of  Theosophy  — 
let  it  be  clearly  said  - —  depends  first  of  all  upon  the  life  and  character  of  those 
who  profess  it.  "Theosophist  is  who  Theosophy  does,"  to  quote  from  Ma- 
dame Blavatsky. 

This  action  of  Katherine  Tingley  brought  to  the  Universal  Brotherhood 
AND  THEOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  many  new  members  who  had  hitherto  held  back 
from  joining  the  local  societies,  and  in  the  first  two  years  after  Katherine 
Tingley  became  Leader  and  Official  Head  the  membership  of  the  Society 
throughout  the  world  was  trebled  in  numbers. 

Recently  a  lecturer  from  the  Orient  lecturing  in  San  Diego  for  Mrs.  Besant's 
society  made  a  statement  which  I  cannot  let  pass  without  protest.  He  is  re- 
ported to  have  declared  regarding  certain  small  pseudo-theosophical  bodies, 
probably  in  defence  of  his  own  position  and  that  of  the  society  he  represents, 
that 

It  does  not  matter  what  the  name  is  so  long  as  a  person  is  proclaiming  the 
truths  of  Reincarnation  and  Karma  and  the  possibilities  of  the  spiritual  life. 
It  is  the  great  work  of  Theosophy;  it  does  not  matter  what  organization  is 
doing  it. 

And  so  other  persons  unthinkingly  might  say.  But  not  so  the  true  Theo- 
sophist. It  does  matter  what  is  the  life  and  character  of  those  who  are  pro- 
claiming Theosophy.  It  does  matter  that  the  one  who  gives  out  these  truths 
shall  endeavor  to  apply  them  to  his  own  daily  life.  Let  me  ask:  Is  there  not 
too  much  already  of  cant  and  hypocrisy  in  the  world?  As  H.  P.  Blavatsky 
says:  "Cant  is  the  most  loathsome  of  all  vices,"  and  the  enmity  and  antagon- 
ism that  Katherine  Tingley  has  aroused  in  certain  quarters  is  because  she  in- 
sists that  there  shall  be  not  only  the  profession,  but  also  the  actual  carrying  out 
among  her  students  of  the  truths  of  Theosophy  in  everyday  life. 

As  the  Theosophical  work  progressed  under  the  direction  of  Katherine 
Tingley  the  great  majority  of  the  members  showed  the  most  satisfactory  re- 
sults in  the  grasping  of  the  opportunities  given,  but  the  Society  was  not  yet 
entirely  free  from  those  factors  that  are  to  be  found  in  all  societies,  and  so  from 
time  to  time  an  upstart  for  Theosophic  honors  would  appear  in  the  arena,  with 
projects  quite  adverse  to  its  real  interests,  attempting  to  use  Theosophy  to 
cover  his  selfish  plans.  In  every  case,  however,  such  people,  not  being  able  to 
keep  up  with  the  procession,  found  themselves  not  at  home  in  the  Society, 
driven  out  by  the  full  force  of  the  high  ideals  and  the  purity  of  the  Theosophic 
life  which  was  demanded  of  them.  Whenever  any  one  of  these  delinquents 
found  the  opportunity  to  further  his  pet  project  he  has  attempted  to  do  it,  and 
so  the  word  'Theosophy'  has  been  used  as  a  cover  for  false  teaching  and  to 


18  HISTORICAL     INCIDENTS     OF 

mislead  the  public.  But  the  re-organization  of  the  Theosophical  Society  and 
its  enlargment  by  which  it  became  merged  into  the  Universal  Brotherhood 
AND  Theosophical  Society  at  the  convention  at  Chicago  in  1898,  which  ac- 
tion was  taken  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  has  proved  to  be  a  blessing  to  all 
faithful  members  and  followers  of  the  teachings  of  H.  P.  Blavatsky,  and  has 
precluded  all  future  possibility  of  the  Society  being  rent  in  twain,  or  having 
its  libraries  separated  or  lost,  and  its  interests  affected  by  quasi-Theosophists. 

I  have  often  heard  Mme.  Tingley  express  sympathy  for  the  public  and  make 
many  excuses  for  their  prejudices  and  even  for  their  calumnies,  for  she  has  said 
that  Theosophy  has  too  often  been  judged  by  the  deplorable  examples  found 
in  the  lives  of  those  delinquents. 

Not  many  years  ago  the  public  mind  was  startled  by  certain  maliciously 
false  statements  published  in  the  yellow  journals  both  in  America  and  Europe 
against  Katherine  Tingley,  her  work  and  her  schools.  The  prime  authors  of 
these  statements  were  two  men  whose  names  are  known  —  one  who  for  four 
years  had  been  under  the  treatment  of  a  prominent  physician  in  New  Orleans 
(whose  affidavit  we  have  to  that  effect)  for  insanity,  and  who  boasted  that  it 
was  his  mission  in  life  to  tear  down  Katherine  Tingley  and  to  exalt  Mrs.  Bes- 
ant,  in  order,  as  he  said,  that  the  members  of  the  original  Theosophical  Society, 
of  which  Katherine  Tingley,  as  successor  to  H.  P.  Blavatsky  and  William  Q. 
Judge,  was  and  is  the  Leader  and  Official  Head,  might  be  induced  to  support 
Mrs.  Besant.  These  two  men  privately  circulated  malicious  reports  against 
Katherine  Tingley,  consisting  of  the  greatest  calumnies  and  falsehoods  —  the 
greater  part  being  made  out  of  whole  cloth  and  part  of  distorted  truths.  It  was 
this  matter,  typewritten  —  not  printed,  for  they  dared  not  publish  it  and  dared 
not  send  it  through  the  mails  —  which  was  passed  around  surreptitiously.  It 
was  shown  to  newspaper  editors  —  and  I  could  give  you  the  actual  names  of 
some  editors  to  whom  it  was  shown  and  who  refused  to  take  any  notice  of  it. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  dastardly  false  statement  was,  in  part  at 
least,  the  basis  of  the  libelous  article  published  October  1901  in  the  Los  Angeles 
Times  (see  Appendix)  against  Katherine  Tingley  and  the  Theosophical  Insti- 
tution at  Point  Loma,  which  caused  Katherine  Tingley  to  bring  action  against 
the  publishers,  the  Times-Mirror  Publishing  Company  and  General  Harrison 
Gray  Otis,  President  of  the  Company  and  Editor  of  the  paper.  The  outcome 
of  the  suit  is  well  known:  Katherine  Tingley  was  completely  vindicated,  and 
was  awarded  heavy  damages.  This  same  statement  was  shown  to  ministers, 
even  in  San  Diego,  and  to  members  of  Mrs.  Besant's  Society  and  to  any  one 
else  who  it  was  thought  might  be  influenced  against  Katherine  Tingley  and  her 
work,  and  the  original  Theosophical  Society,  which  has  its  headquarters  at 
Point  Loma.  Furthermore,  it  was  this  dastardly  false  and  malicious  statement 
that  was  the  basis  of  the  attacks  against  Katherine  Tingley  made  by  the  Gerry 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  in  New  York,  when  they  de- 
tained eleven  Cuban  children  and  one  of  our  lady  physicians,  holding  them  on 
Ellis  Island  on  the  plea  that  the  Raja- Yoga  School  at  Point  Loma  was  no  fit 
place  for  children.  You  all  know  how  this  ended,  how  Katherine  Tingley  de- 
manded that  an  investigation  of  her  School  and  College  at  Point  Loma  be  made 
by  the  United  States  Government;  how  Commissioner-General  Sargent  of  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration  personally  made  such  an  investigation  and  reported 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  19 

favorably  to  President  Roosevelt,  with  the  result  that  the  children  were 
ordered  to  be  sent  on  to  their  destination  at  Point  Loma,  where  they  are  at 
the  present  time.* 

One  may  well  ask,  Why  should  these  men  go  to  the  trouble  of  circulating 
such  a  tissue  of  falsehoods  against  a  world-worker  and  humanitarian,  one 
whose  whole  life  was  being  spent  for  the  uplifting  of  Humanity?  But  when  it 
is  known  that  Katherine  Tingley  knew  of  the  Jekyll-and-Hyde  life  of  one  of 
them,  and  that  he  feared  that  some  day  she  might  lift  the  veil  and  show  his 
hypocrisy,  is  it  not  plain  to  any  casual  observer  that  all  these  calumnious 
efforts  of  his  against  Mme.  Tingley  were  an  attempt  to  bring  such  discredit 
upon  her  and  her  work  that  she  would  not  be  believed? 

This  man  was  Alexander  Fullerton,  whom  I  have  already  named,  and  who 
at  that  time  held  the  highest  official  position  in  the  United  States  of  America  in 
the  society  of  which  Mrs.  Besant  was  President,  and  which  she  calls  "Theo- 
sophical"!  He  was  later  (Feb.  18,  1910)  arrested  for  sending  indecent  and 
immoral  matter  to  a  young  lad  through  the  United  States  mails.  He  confessed 
and  was  being  held  for  trial  by  the  United  States  Federal  Court  when  through 
the  influence  of  friends  he  was  adjudged  insane  and  placed  in  a  State  Lunatic 
Asylum,  where  he  has  since  died.  Fullerton  was  arrested  Feb.  18, 1910,  and  in 
Mrs.  Besant's  official  magazine  published  in  India,  dated  March,  1910,  is  an 
article  by  her,  eulogistic  of  this  man  and  speaking  of  him  as  a  "  Theosophical 
Worthy"!  Surely  comment  is  not  necessary. 

It  is  a  matter  of  simple  justice  that  these  facts  should  be  known,  for  they 
help  to  explain  what  was  behind  the  persecution  of  the  Leader  of  the  Theoso- 
phical  organization,  Katherine  Tingley,  and  the' institutions  which  she  directs. 

Had  not  Fullerton  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  law  through  his  crimes  he 
would  in  a  short  time  have  been  brought  into  the  courts  of  New  York  for  his 
libelous  and  infamous  work  against  Katherine  Tingley.  His  coadjutor  was  ir- 
responsible and  was  but  a  tool  in  his  hands,  this  being  proven  by  his  own  state- 
ments to  Katherine  Tingley's  father,  who  at  that  time  was  devoting  his  whole 
energy  —  though  an  old  man  of  seventy-five  years  —  to  run  down  and  expose 
these  traducers,  but  in  the  midst  of  his  efforts  he  overtaxed  his  strength  and 
died  suddenly. 

Calumniators  defeated  in  attempts  to  exploit  Society  for  personal 

ENDS.     ThEOSOPHY  AND  WORK  AT  POINT  LOMA  FALSELY  GIVEN 
AS    CAUSE    OF    FAMILY    TROUBLES. 

How  the  Society  has  been  used  by  those  seeking  to  exploit  it  for  personal 
ends  cannot  be  told  fully  here  tonight,  but  there  are  one  or  two  striking  points 
that  I  will  mention  and  that  serve  to  lift  the  veil  on  questions  of  the  separation 
of  families,  with  which  Katherine  Tingley  has  been  so  often  charged.  Several 
instances  have  occurred  since  the  International  Headquarters  were  established 
at  Point  Loma  in  which  efforts  have  been  made  to  use  Theosophy  and  Point 
Loma  as  a  basis  to  serve  in  divorce  proceedings  and  in  other  family  matters, 
such  as  the  separation  of  parents  and  children,  and  husband  and  wife.  The 
first  instance  that  I  will  refer  to  is  that  of  a  man,  residing  in  another  state,  who 

*This  was  at  the  time  of  writing     Since  then  several  have  returned  to  Cuba  and  are  holding 
honorable  positions. 


20  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

for  several  years  previously  had  not  only  neglected  his  wife,  but  whose  life  was 
said  to  be  so  immoral  that  she  deserted  him  and  then  secured  a  divorce,  the 
courts  giving  her  the  custody  of  their  only  child,  a  daughter.  The  mother 
married  again  —  a  member  of  the  Theosophical  Society  —  and  later  died.  Her 
last  wish  was  that  her  daughter  might  be  placed  in  the  school  at  Point  Loma  to 
complete  her  education  and  to  have  such  protection  as  to  keep  her  from  any 
association  with  her  father,  whose  conduct  had  broken  up  the  home.  Not  long 
after  her  admission  to  the  school  the  father  appeared  in  San  Diego  and  de- 
manded the  custody  of  his  daughter,  circulating  malicious  stories  that  Mme. 
Tingley  was  separating  father  from  child.  He  brought  his  case  into  the  courts 
of  San  Diego,  and  papers  were  served  on  Katherine  Tingley  that  she  was  hold- 
ing the  child;  but  when  the  case  came  on  for  trial  this  child  herself  placed  facts 
in  the  hands  of  the  lawyers  in  regard  to  her  mother's  statements  and  her  desire 
that  she  should  not  associate  with  her  father,  with  the  result  that  the  case  was 
dismissed.  But  the  enemies,  gossips  in  San  Diego  and  elsewhere,  and  yellow 
journals  caught  up  the  father's  story,  and  the  falsehoods  given  out  by  him 
have  never  been  completely  overtaken  by  the  truth.  It  was  learned  afterwards 
that  it  was  Alexander  Fullerton,  above  referred  to,  who  encouraged  the  father 
in  making  his  attack  upon  Katherine  Tingley  and  the  Theosophical  Institu- 
tions,   This  girl  is  still  at  the  International  Headquarters  at  Point  Loma. 

Another  case  that  created  a  great  stir  at  the  time  was  that  of  a  certain  man 
residing  in  Chicago  who  planned  a  visit  of  his  wife  and  children  to  Point  Loma, 
they  to  remain  there  for  three  months  while  he  went  on  a  trip  up  the  Coast 
and  possibly  to  Honolulu.  This  man,  with  his  family,  arrived  at  Point  Loma 
and  even  made  application  to  enter  his  children  in  the  school,  although  for 
years  he  had  been  an  open  and  bitter  enemy  of  Theosophy  notwithstanding 
that  his  wife  was  a  member  of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theo- 
sophical Society.  Mme.  Tingley,  suspecting  his  motives,  told  him  she  had 
reason  to  believe  he  intended  to  desert  his  wife.  She  refused  to  accept  the 
children  as  pupils  but  said  they  and  their  mother  might  remain  on  a  visit  as 
paying  guests  for  three  months,  the  mother's  health  being  greatly  broken 
down.  The  husband  even  paid  money  in  advance  both  for  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, and  departed,  as  he  said,  upon  his  trip.  Two  days  later  he  appeared  at 
the  Point  Loma  Homestead  in  a  carriage  and  made  an  attempt  to  kidnap  the 
two  children.  Through  the  mother's  efforts,  however,  he  did  not  succeed,  but 
later  brought  habeas  corpus  proceedings  against  Itatherine  Tingley  for  re- 
straining the  children,  with  which,  of  course,  she  had  nothing  to  do,  they  being 
in  the  sole  care  of  the  mother,  and  Mme.  Tingley  having  rt^fused  to  admit  them 
into  the  school.  A  similar  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  directed  by  the  husband 
against  his  wife,  charging  her  also  with  imprisoning  the  children  whom,  bear  in 
mind,  he  had  voluntarily  left  in  her  sole  custody  a  few  days  before.  Katherine 
Tingley  appeared  in  court  with  her  attorney,  but  immediately  on  opening  the 
case  it  was  dismissed  on  application  of  the  man  himself.  A  short  time  later  he 
succeeded  in  bringing  this  case  before  the  Los  Angeles  court,  and  an  old  clause 
of  the  laws  was  strained  to  the  point  that  a  sheriff's  officer  called  at  Point 
Loma  and  took  the  children  away,  the  mother  following,  although  prostrated 
by  serious  illness  at  the  time. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  wife  withheld  her  most  important  evidence 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  21 

against  her  husband  on  the  advice  of  her  lawyer;  owing  to  the  fact  that  she  had 
already  brought  suit  for  divorce  in  Chicago  and  was  intending  to  return  there 
to  prosecute  it  the  following  week;  owing  also  to  the  fact  that  much  of  the  evi- 
dence submitted  by  the  plaintiff  and  witnesses  was  perjured;  and  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  custody  of  children  cannot  be  settled  in  a  habeas  corpus  pro- 
ceeding, this  being  the  only  contention  between  the  litigants,  the  Los  Angeles 
courts  gave  the  father  temporary  custody  of  the  children,  this  being  the  extent 
of  its  judicial  power;  and  if  the  mother  wished  to  recover  her  children  perma- 
nently she  must  go  to  Chicago  to  enter  suit  there.  However,  under  the  advice 
of  her  Chicago  lawyer  and  of  her  oldest  and  closest  friends,  she  did  not  go,  as 
she  was  reliably  informed  that  her  husband  and  her  mother,  who  was  a  physi- 
cian and  had  been  for  years  the  principal  disturbing  element  in  her  family  life, 
had  planned  to  place  her  in  an  insane  asylum  —  this,  I  understand,  was  at  that 
time  easily  done  in  Illinois.  The  wife,  in  her  despair,  resorted  to  the  California 
courts,  seeking  a  divorce  and  the  custody  of  her  children  on  the  ground  of  the 
adultery  of  her  husband  with  her  own  mother,  who,  according  to  the  statement  of 
many  who  knew  her  private  life,  was  a  cruel,  immoral  woman,  although  out- 
wardly she  conformed  to  the  conventional  standards  of  respectability.  This 
woman,  named  as  co-respondent  by  the  wife,  was  also  a  bitter  enemy  of 
Katherine  Tingley,  being  a  member  of  Mrs.  Besant's  society,  and  having  for- 
merly entertained  some  of  Mrs.  Besant's  lecturers.  Further,  she  had  never 
forgiven  Katherine  Tingley  for  ignoring  her  application  for  a  position,  although 
a  total  stranger  to  her,  upon  her  (Katherine  Tingley's)  medical  staff  at  the 
time  of  the  latter's  first  Crusade  to  Cuba  when  President  McKinley  so  liberally 
aided  and  indorsed  her  work,  giving  free  transportation  on  the  U.  S.  Transport 
Berlin  to  Katherine  Tingley  and  her  band  of  physicians  and  nurses  and  sup- 
plies of  food,  medicine  and  clothing. 

Unfortunately  for  the  wife,  the  California  courts  could  not  hear  her  case 
until  she  had  been  a  resident  in  the  State  for  one  year,  and  the  case  was  further 
delayed  by  a  clerical  error  in  the  first  bill  filed  which,  although  a  mere  techni- 
cality, necessitated  re-filing  and  an  additional  three-months'  delay.  In  the 
meantime  the  father  brought  suit  in  the  Illinois  courts  and  gained  possession  of 
the  children  because  the  wife  was  not  present  to  oppose.  Now  it  will  be  of  in- 
terest to  you  to  know  that  according  to  the  wife's  own  statements  it  was  Kath- 
erine Tingley's  advice  alone  that  had  sustained  her  in  living  the  last  three  years 
with  this  man  who,  so  the  wife  says,  had  abused  all  rights  as  a  husband. 

The  wife  had  applied  to  Katherine  Tingley  three  years  previously,  saying 
that  she  could  stand  her  life  no  longer  because  of  the  unnatural  and  pernicious 
influence  her  mother  had  for  some  years  exercised  over  her  husband,  to  the  ex- 
tent, in  fact,  that  the  real  home  life  had  seemingly  been  hopelessly  destroyed. 
She  told  Katherine  Tingley  that  she  had  determined  to  sue  for  a  divorce,  but 
Katherine  Tingley  urged  her  not  to  give  up  trying  to  keep  her  home  intact  for 
the  sake  of  her  children,  but  to  make  still  another  effort.  This  man,  who  was  a 
business  man  in  Chicago,  although  he  succeeded  in  taking  the  children  from 
their  heartbroken  mother's  arms  temporarily,  has  not  succeeded  in  effacing 
from  the  public  mind  the  charges  which  his  wife  brought  out  against  him  to  es- 
tablish her  case,  although  he  has  gone  very  much  out  of  his  way  in  attempting 
to  do  this,  so  that  even  to  this  day  he  is  very  bitter  and  is  still  found  working 


22  HISTORICAL     INCIDENTS    OF 

behind  the  scenes  wherever  possible  to  injure  Katherine  Tingley  and  the  good 
name  of  Theosophy.  His  calumnies  are  mostly  in  interviews,  and  in  his  corre- 
spondence he  rehashes  the  rotten  matter  before  referred  to,  which  was  circu- 
lated by  Alexander  Fullerton  and  his  aide  above  mentioned.  He  asserts  that 
he  has  proof,  and  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  get  him  to  give  proof,  when  he  is 
forced  into  a  corner,  he  clears  himself  by  saying  to  those  who  demand  proofs 
that  he  has  none,  but  only  that  his  statements  are  based  on  newspaper  stories. 

Other  attempts  to  involve  Theosophy  have  been  made  by  men  who  have 
tried  to  get  rid  of  their  wives,  and  they  have  named  Theosophy  and  the  work 
at  Point  Loma  as  a  cause  to  cover  their  own  mistakes  and  gain  sympathy  from 
a  misinformed  public.  In  every  case,  however,  they  have  been  defeated, 
though  another  link  in  the  slander  is  added. 

We  feel  that  all  lovers  of  truth  and  justice  will  be  glad  these  statements 
have  been  made,  which  barely  touch  on  the  surface  of  many  of  the  cruel  mis- 
representations which  Theosophy  has  had  to  suffer. 

At  some  other  time  I  hope  to  give  further  historical  matter  which  will 
chronicle  pleasanter  incidents  in  the  history  of  the  Theosophical  Movement. 

CONCLUSION 

Work  at  Point  Loma.    School  of  Antiquity.    Great  Library. 
Katherine  Tingley  the  Teacher. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  here  a  detailed  account  of  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  many  activities  at  Point  Loma,  yet  even  a  brief  sketch 
such  as  this  would  be  incomplete  without  some  reference  to  them. 

First  then,  at  Point  Loma  are  located  the  International  Headquarters  of 
the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society  which,  as  will  al- 
ready have  been  seen  from  the  above,  is  the  direct  continuation,  de  jure  and 
de  facto,  of  the  original  Theosophical  Society  founded  by  Madame  Blavatsky  in 
New  York  in  1875.  From  this  world-center  and  International  Headquarters 
the  work  of  this  vast  Organization  is  carried  on  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  membership  of  the  Society  was  trebled 
in  the  first  two  years  of  Katherine  Tingley's  leadership,  and  it  may  further  be 
said  that  the  work  has  increased  at  least  five-fold  during  the  past  year.  The 
propaganda  and  correspondence  bureaus  are  taxed  to  their  limit,  while  the 
Aryan  Theosophical  Press,  founded  by  William  Q.  Judge  in  1888  in  New  York, 
and  now  established  at  Point  Loma,  even  with  all  the  increased  facilities  of  new 
printing  presses,  monotype  machinery,  book-bindery,  and  photo-engraving 
department,  is  already  inadequate  to  supply  the  demand  for  literature  from 
all  over  the  world. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  life  at  Point  Loma  is  the  student  life. 
In  1897  Katherine  Tingley  founded  the  School  of  Antiquity,  the  aims  of  which 
are  as  follows: 

Although  American  in  center,  this  school  is  international  in  character,  a 
Temple  of  Living  Light,  Ughting  up  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  Through  this 
school  and  its  branches  the  children  of  the  race  will  be  taught  the  laws  of  physical 
life,  and  physical,  moral,  and  mental  health  and  spiritual  unfoldment.  They  will 
learn  to  live  in  harmony  with  nature  —  they  will  become  compassionate  lovers  of 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  23 

all  that  breathes,  they  will  grow  strong  in  an  understanding  of  themselves,  and 
as  they  gain  strength  they  will  learn  to  use  it  for  the  good  of  the  whole  world. 

Connected  with  the  School  of  Antiquity  is  the  School  of  Antiquity  Library 
in  which  are  many  rare  and  valuable  books.  The  original  nucleus  of  this  was  a 
gift  by  Rev.  S.  J.  Neill  of  a  fine  collection  of  books  many  years  ago,  since  which 
time  the  library  has  grown  enormously,  so  that  there  are  now  several  thousand 
volumes.  These  are  at  present  temporarily  housed,  awaiting  the  erection  of  the 
School  of  Antiquity  Temple  which  is  to  be  their  permanent  home  —  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  which  is  already  laid.  In  addition  to  the  above  there  are  also  at 
Point  Loma  the  Aryan  Theosophical  Library  and  the  International  Head- 
quarters Library. 

Already  the  School  of  Antiquity  numbers  among  its  students  —  and  all  are 
students  at  Point  Loma,  gratefully  acknowledging  Katherine  Tingley  as  their 
Teacher  —  men  and  women  from  all  walks  in  life  and  every  profession: 
musicians,  artists,  writers,  physicians,  lawyers,  engineers,  business  men,  crafts- 
men, and  artisans.  Fortunate  indeed  are  these  students,  for  they  have  the 
privilege  of  receiving  from  their  Teacher,  Katherine  Tingley,  the  priceless 
instructions  of  Theosophy,  the  Wisdom- Religion. 

Those  who  are  closest  to  Katherine  Tingley  assert,  and  do  so  from  actual 
experience  of  the  results,  that  she  has  access  to  the  same  source  of  wisdom  as 
had  her  illustrious  predecessors,  H.  P.  Blavatsky  and  William  Q.  Judge.  There 
were  many  teachings  which  H.  P.  Blavatsky  gave  to  no  one  but  her  faithful 
colleague  and  successor,  William  Q.  Judge,  and  others  which  he  also  received 
direct  from  Madame  Blavatsky's  Teacher.  All  of  these  were  in  turn  handed  to 
his  successor  Katherine  Tingley.  These,  together  with  the  great  knowledge 
which  she  herself  has,  form  the  basis  of  the  deeper  instructions  given  to  the 
faithful  students  at  Point  Loma,  as  and  when  they  become  worthy  and 
qualified  to  receive  the  same. 

And  this  instruction  is  not  some  far-ofif  mystical  teaching,  but  that  which 
can  be  applied  here  and  now.  It  is  not  any  strange  dabbling  in  weird  phenom- 
ena, not  any  attempt  to  develop  abnormal  psychic  powers,  clairvoyance,  the 
seeing  of  astral  colors  or  the  hearing  of  astral  sounds  —  these  have  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  spiritual  life,  the  inner  divine  life  of  man,  but  are  dan- 
gerous hindrances,  not  aids.  But  the  teaching  given  by  Katherine  Tingley  to 
her  students  is  practical,  applicable  to  our  everyday  life.  It  calls  for  the  puri- 
fication of  one's  nature,  self-control,  self-conquest;  it  is  a  benediction  upon  the 
home,  and  an  uplifting  power  in  the  life  of  every  man  and  woman  who  will  fol- 
low it,  giving  a  better  understanding  of  life  and  its  sacred  opportunities. 

The  International  Theosophical  Headquarters  at  Point  Loma  is  destined 
to  be  and  has  in  part  already  become  a  great  seat  of  learning  where  are  being 
studied  these  deeper  and  inner  teachings  of  the  great  science  of  life,  Theosophy, 
and  its  students  are  engaged  in  many  lines  of  deeper  research  that  have  a  pro- 
found significance  in  regard  to  the  future  welfare  of  humanity,  the  results  of 
which  will  in  due  time  be  made  known  to  the  world. 

APPENDIX 

For  the  information  of  those  not  acquainted  with  the  facts,  the  following 
statement  is  made: 


24  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

In  October,  1901,  an  article  was  published  in  the  Los  Angeles  Times  by  the 
Times-Mirror  Company,  of  which  Gen.  Harrison  Gray  Otis  is  president,  he  be- 
ing also  Editor  of  the  paper,  in  which  outrageously  false  statements  were  made 
against  Katherine  Tingley  and  the  Point  Loma  Institution.  In  consequence 
of  this,  Katherine  Tingley  brought  a  libel  suit  against  the  Times-Mirror  Com- 
pany and  Gen.  Otis.  This  libel  suit  was  tried  before  Judge  Torrance  of  the 
Superior  Court  in  San  Diego,  December  1902,  and  January  1903,  being  con- 
cluded January  13,  1903,  when  the  jury  rendered  a  verdict  in  favor  of  the 
plaintiff,  Katherine  Tingley,  completely  vindicating  her  and  the  Point  Loma 
Institution,  and  awarding  her  heavy  damages. 

It  may  interest  readers  to  know  that  Gen.  Harrison  Gray  Otis  was  at 
THE  TIME  Vice-President  of  the  Associated  Press! 

In  his  charge  to  the  jury  Judge  Torrance  said  again  and  again  to  statement 
after  statement  which  had  been  made  by  the  defendant  Otis  and  to  charges 
alleged  by  him: 

"I  declare  to  you  as  a  matter  of  law  that  there  is  no  legal  proof  of  the 
truth  of  that  charge,  and  therefore  you  must  regard  it  as  false." 

Note  these  words: 

"  /  declare  to  you  as  a  matter  of  law  that  there  is  no  legal  proof  of  the  truth 
of  that  charge,  and  therefore  you  must  regard  it  as  false." 

He  further  said  to  the  jury :  "I  deem  it  of  great  importance  that  you  should 
clearly  apprehend  the  real  issues  in  this  case.  ...  So  far  as  they  pertain  to  the 
exclusive  province  of  the  Court  they  are  these,  and  the  Court  thus  decides 
them: 

"First. —  The  publication  in  the  Los  Angeles  Daily  Times  complained  of  in 
this  action  was  capable  of  the  interpretation  placed  upon  it  by  the  complaint. 

"Second. —  So  far  as  defendant  has  not  denied  by  its  answer  (not  by  the 
words  of  its  counsel)  the  meanings  attributed  to  this  publication  by  the  com- 
plaint the  article  must  have  been  regarded  to  have  been  published,  and  to  have 
been  understood  by  those  who  read  it,  in  the  sense  imputed  by  the  complaint. 

"Third. —  The  publication,  in  all  respects  in  which  it  is  construed  by  the 
complaint,  is  in  law  libelous." 

As  said  above,  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff  with  heavy 
damages,  and  the  Superior  Court  Decision  was  upheld  by  the  State  Supreme 
Court. 

MRS.   TINGLEY  WINS  SUIT 

CALIFORNIA    SUPREME   COURT    SUSTAINS   JUDGMENT    OF    $7500   AGAINST    'LOS    ANGELES    TIMES' 

Point  Loma,  Cal.,  April  3  (Special)  —  Katherine  Tingley  has  won  her  libel 
suit  against  the  Times-Mirror  Company,  publishers  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times, 
Harrison  Gray  Otis,  editor.  The  decision  of  the  San  Diego  Superior  Court  is 
upheld  and  judgment  for  $7500  is  affirmed  by  the  State  Supreme  Court.  Four 
years  ago  Mrs.  Tingley  brought  suit  for  libel  against  the  Times  and  won  her 
case  in  the  Superior  Court  of  San  Diego  County.  Mr.  Otis  appealed  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  for  a  new  trial.  The  case  has  been  pending  for  the  past  three 
years.  The  Supreme  Court  has  given  Mrs.  Tingley  a  final  victory  by  affirming 
the  decision  of  the  lower  court  notwithstanding  eight  hundred  or  more  objec- 
tions entered  by  the  attorneys  for  Mr.  Oti^.— Boston  Transcript,  April  3,  1907 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  25 

(From  The  Theosophical  Path,  Katherine  Tingley,  Editor,  October,  1917) 

THEOSOPHY  —  UNSECTARIAN   AND 
NON-POLITICAL:    by  J.  H.  Fussell 

The  Theosophical  Society  is  not,  then,  a  political  organization? 

Certainly  not.  It  is  international  in  the  highest  sense,  in  that  its  members 
comprise  men  and  women  of  all  races,  creeds  and  forms  of  thought,  who  work 
together  for  one  object  —  the  improvement  of  humanity;  but  as  a  society  it 
takes  absolutely  no  part  in  any  national  or  party  politics. 

Why  is  this? 

For  the  very  reasons  I  have  mentioned.  Moreover,  political  action  must 
necessarily  vary  with  the  circumstances  of  the  time  and  with  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  individuals.—  H.   P.   Blavatsky  in   The  Key  to   Theosophy,  pp.  227-228 

T^HE  most  direct  meaning  of  the  word  Theosophy  is  'Divine  Wisdom.' 
J-  As  was  explained  by  Mme.  Blavatsky  when  she  first  (in  our  present  day) 
proclaimed  again  its  teachings,  it  is  a  term  which  connotes  the  'Wisdom- 
Religion,'  the  'Secret  Doctrine,'  the  primeval  truth  which  was  ONE  in 
antiquity  and  which  was  the  basis  of  all  the  great  religious  Faiths  of  the  world. 
Just  as  the  one  white  light  passing  through  a  prism  is  divided  into  the  seven 
prismatic  colored  rays,  so  the  one  white  Light  of  Truth  passing  through  the 
prism  of  the  racial  mind  becomes  divided  into  the  different  religious  faiths. 
And  just  as  no  one  of  the  prismatic  rays  is  or  can  be  regarded  as  the  one 
white  light,  or  contains  the  white  light  in  its  fulness,  but  only  an  aspect  of  it; 
so  no  one  of  the  religious  Faiths  of  the  world  contains  or  can  be  regarded  as 
the  whole  Truth,  though  it  may  contain  or  present  an  aspect  of  the  Truth. 

For  this  reason  Mme.  Blavatsky,  from  the  very  foundation  of  the  Theo- 
sophical Society,  urged  upon  the  members  to  study  comparative  religion,  to 
study  the  great  Faiths  of  the  world,  to  seek  out  those  foundation  truths 
which  were  common  to  all  and  so  find  again  the  ancient  Wisdom- Religion  — 
Theosophy. 

Nowhere,  however,  and  at  no  time,  did  she  urge  the  support  of  any  one 
religious  faith  or  system,  seeing  that  all  the  religious  faiths  of  the  world  have 
become  encrusted  with  theological  dogmas  and  are  hedged  about  with  creeds. 
She  makes  the  following  important  declaration: 

It  is  perhaps  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  say  that  the  assertion  that  '  Theosophy 
is  not  a  Religion,'  by  no  means  excludes  the  fact  that  'Theosophy  is  Religion' 
itself.  A  Religion,  in  the  true  and  only  correct  sense,  is  a  bond  uniting  men 
together  —  not  a  particular  set  of  dogmas  and  beliefs.  Now  Religion,  per  se, 
in  its  widest  meaning  is  that  which  binds  not  only  all  MEN,  but  also  all  BEINGS 
and  all  things  in  the  entire  Universe  into  one  grand  whole.  This  is  our  Theo- 
sophical definition  of  religion. 

Thus  Theosophy  is  not  a  Religion,  we  say,  but  RELIGION  itself,  the  one  bond 
of  unity,  which  is  so  universal  and  all-embracing  that  no  man,  as  no  speck  —  from 
gods  and  mortals  down  to  animals,  the  blade  of  grass  and  atom  —  can  be  outside 
of  its  light.  Therefore,  any  organization  or  body  of  that  name  must  necessarily 
be  a  UNIVERSAL  BROTHERHOOD. 

Accepting  this  definition  of  Theosophy  as  RELIGION  itself,  and  not 
a  religion,  it  must  be  clear  that  neither  the  Theosophical  Society  nor  any 


26  HISTORICAL     INCIDENTS     OF 

official  of  the  Society  has  any  right  to  advocate  or  support  any  sectarian  creed 
or  dogma,  or  any  one  religious  system,  Faith  or  Church.  And  to  the  extent 
that  any  one  professes  to  follow  Theosophy,  if  he  be  sincere  in  his  profession, 
that  is,  to  the  extent  that  he  is  a  Theosophist,  in  place  of  advocating  any 
sectarian  creed  or  dogma,  or  any  one  religious  system.  Faith  or  Church,  in 
the  sense  of  *a  particular  set  of  dogmas  and  beliefs,'  to  the  exclusion  of  or  in 
opposition  to  other  dogmas  and  beliefs,  he  will  seek  behind  all  these  for  the 
kernel  of  Truth  which  is  common  to  all  religions,  and  for  those  truths  which 
are  to  be  found  in  degree  in  all.  He  will  hold  less  and  less  to  the  outer  forms, 
creeds  and  dogmas  which  divide,  and  more  and  more  to  those  teachings  which 
have  been  universally  proven  to  be  true,  and  which  unite.  To  take  any  other 
course  would  be  to  go  contrary  to  this  universal  and  basic  principle  of 
Theosophy. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  Theosophical  Society  are  men  and  women  holding 
different  religious  views,  Christians,  Buddhists,  Hindus,  Parsis,  etc.,  and  to 
all  such  it  says:  Seek  to  get  at  the  foundation  of  the  religious  faith  you 
profess,  and  you  will  find  a  common  meeting-ground  with  others  of  different 
faiths.  In  an  open  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (1887),  Mme. 
Blavatsky  said  the  following: 

Theosophists  know  that  the  deeper  one  penetrates  into  the  meaning  of  the 
dogmas  and  ceremonies  of  all  religions,  the  greater  becomes  their  apparent 
underlying  similarity,  until  finally  a  perception  of  their  fundamental  unity  is 
reached.  This  common  ground  is  no  other  than  Theosophy  —  the  Secret  Doctrine 
of  the  ages;  which,  diluted  and  disguised  to  suit  the  capacity  of  the  multitude, 
and  the  requirements  of  the  time,  has  formed  the  living  kernel  of  all  religions. 

The  same  writer  (Mme.  Blavatsky)  also  says  the  following: 

There  is  but  one  Eternal  Truth,  one  universal,  infinite  and  changeless  spirit 
of  Love,  Truth  and  Wisdom;  impersonal,  therefore  bearing  a  different  name 
in  every  nation;  one  light  for  all,  in  which  the  whole  Humanity  lives  and  moves, 
and  has  its  being.  Like  the  spectrum  in  optics  giving  multicolored  and  various 
rays,  which  are  yet  caused  by  one  and  the  same  sun,  so  theologized  and  sacerdotal 
systems  are  many.  But  the  universal  religion  can  only  be  one  if  we  accept  the 
real  primitive  meaning  of  the  root  of  the  word.  We  Theosophists  so  accept  it; 
and  therefore  say  we  are  all  brothers  —  by  the  laws  of  nature,  of  birth,  of  death, 
as  also  by  the  laws  of  our  utter  helplessness  from  birth  to  death  in  this  world 
of  sorrow  and  deceptive  illusions.  Let  us  then  love,  help  and  mutually  defend 
each  other  against  the  spirit  of  deception;  and  while  holding  to  that  which  each 
of  us  accepts  as  his  ideal  of  truth  and  unity  —  /.  e.  to  the  religion  which  suits 
each  of  us  best  —  let  us  unite  to  form  a  practical  nucleus  of  a  Universal  Brother- 
hood of  Humanity  without  distinction  of  race,  creed  or  color. 

In  entire  harmony  with  this  is  the  following  declaration  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society: 

Every  member  has  the  right  to  believe  or  disbelieve  in  any  religious  system 
or  philosophy,  each  being  required  to  show  that  tolerance  for  the  opinions  of 
others  which  he  expects  for  his  own. 

This  declaration,  however,  does  not  concede  or  give  the  right  to  any 
member  to  proselytize  for  any  church  or  religious  system,  or  to  advocate 
the  support  of  any  church  or  creed  —  thereby  tacitly,  if  not  openly,  con- 


THE     THEOSOPHICAL     MOVEMENT  27 

demning  all  other  churches  and  creeds.  For  this  would  be  a  violation  of 
the  principles  of  Theosophy  and  tend  to  create  dissension. 

Having  found  the  inner  meaning,  having  reached  "the  common  ground 
of  all  religions"  which  is  "no  other  than  Theosophy,"  having  found  the 
spirit  which  giveth  life,  no  one,  no  Theosophist,  if  he  is  faithful  to  himself, 
to  the  Higher  Self  within,  can  ever  again  go  back  to  the  letter  which  killeth, 
or  the  dogmas  which  separate.  Having  found  "the  living  kernel  of  all  reli- 
gions," the  bond  of  union  between  Christian,  Hindu,  Buddhist,  Parsi,  and 
men  of  all  professions  of  faith,  he  will  henceforth  be  a  devotee  of  Truth  alone. 
He  can  no  longer  call  himself  Christian  or  Buddhist,  or  by  the  name  of  any 
other  separated  religious  faith.  He  will  not  and  cannot  subordinate  Truth 
to  a  half-truth  or  a  partial  expression  of  Truth.  It  will  henceforth  be  Truth 
and  Light  he  will  ever  seek  and  follow;  it  will  be  Truth  and  Light  he  will 
teach  and  advocate.  He  will  not  advocate  the  support  of  any  church  or 
any  creed,  but  only  Truth,  Divine  Wisdom  —  Theosophy. 

Religion,  considered  fundamentally,  unites;  religions,  churches,  creeds, 
separate.  Looking  back  through  all  known  history,  what  is  the  record  of 
the  wars,  hatreds  and  strife  between  nations  and  individuals?  Have  not  the 
bitterest  of  these  and  of  all  human  dissensions  been  due  to  differences  in 
religion,   differences  in  creed  and  dogma,   sectarianism? 

The  principal  purpose  and  aim  of  the  Theosophical  Society  since  its 
foundation  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky  in  New  York  in  1875,  and  still  more  strongly 
insisted  upon  since  its  reorganization  by  Katherine  Tingley,  in  1898,  as  the 
Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society,  has  been  and  is  to  ac- 
centuate the  fundamental  principle  of  Theosophy,  viz.,  Universal  Brotherhood. 
Harmony  based  on  those  foundation  truths  which  are  the  very  essence  of 
Theosophy;  the  basic  truths  common  to  all  religions;  to  seek  for  the  common 
ground;  not  to  accentuate  any  creed,  any  dogma,  not  to  support  any  Church 
or  any  religion,  even  the  greatest,  but  to  support  RELIGION,  Truth, —  these 
alone  can  make  men  free.  "There  is  no  Religion  higher  than  Truth,"  is 
its  motto. 

To  come  now  to  the  application  of  the  foregoing,  and  the  reason  for 
making  this  statement,  the  following  has  been  brought  to  our  attention. 
It  is  a  statement  published  in  the  official  organ  in  the  U.  S.  A.  of  a  society 
which  claims  to  be  'Theosophical,'  the  same  being  a  section  of  a  society  of 
which  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  a  professed  'Theosophist,'  is  President.  The  state- 
ment in  question -which  quotes  authoritatively  from  Mrs.  Besant,  is  as  follows: 

Our  President  has  not  left  us  in  doubt  as  to  the  activities  to  which  we  should 
devote  our  every  available  energy  in  the  immediate  future;  we  have  not  been  left 
groping  to  find  those  excellent  things  for  ourselves.  In  the  Watch-tower  for 
November  1916  she  has  with  directness  and  force  informed  us  that  it  is  a  matter 
of  very  great  importance  that  we  shall  do  what  we  can  (i)  to  strengthen  the  work 
of  Co-Masonry;  (2)  to  help  in  the  establishment  of  that  intellectually  inclined, 
old,  but  yet  very  small  church,  known  as  the  Old  Catholic  Church,  among  Theo- 
sophists,  and  (5)  to  aid  in  giving  out  the  educational  ideas  for  the  future  race. 
She  has  made  it  as  clear  as  daylight  that  we  are  to  take  the  light  of  Theosophy 
into  the  outer  world,  entering  the  four  great  departments  of  life  which  so  much 
need  the  illumination  of  our  teaching  at  this  critical  time:  these  are  politics, 
religion,  education,  and  social  reform. 


28  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

The  language  is  unequivocal:  Mrs.  Besant  has  "with  directness  and 
force  informed  us"  (the  members  of  the  so-called  ' Theosophical '  society  of 
which  she  is  president)  "that  it  is  a  matter  of  very  great  importance  that  we 
shall  do  what  we  can"  (italics  mine  —  J.H.F.) ..."  (2)  to  help  in  the  establish- 
ment of  .  ,  .  the  Old  Catholic  Church.  ..."  That  is,  that  these  people  who 
call  themselves  *  Theosophists '  shall  do  what  they  can  to  help  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  sect;  that  they  shall  desert,  if  indeed  they  ever  held  to  it,  un- 
sectarianism,  and  become  sectarian.  No  clearer  evidence,  surely,  is  needed 
to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Besant  by  advocating  such  action,  and 
those  who,  acting  on  her  instructions,  take  such  action,  are  not  Theosophists, 
and  have  no  right  nor  title  to  the  name  'Theosophist.'* 

Against  this  misuse  of  the  name  '  Theosophist '  and  against  the  misinter- 
pretation and  travesty  of  Theosophy  which  such  action  taken  in  the  name 
of  Theosophy  implies,  every  true  Theosophist  protests. 

For  the  sake  of  those  of  the  public  who  may  have  been  misinformed  or 
do  not  know  the  facts,  it  should  be  stated  that  neither  Mrs.  Besant,  nor 
any  of  her  followers,  nor,  again,  any  of  the  members  of  the  so-called  Theosophical 
society  of  which  she  is  president,  is  a  member  of,  or  affiliated  with,  the  original 
Theosophical  Society  founded  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky  which  is  now  known  as  the 
Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society,  of  which  Katherine  Tingley 
is  the  Leader  and  Official  Head,  with  International  Headquarters  at  Point 
Loma,   California. 

But  there  is  still  another  reason  for  making  this  present  statement  and 
for  emphasizing  the  fact  that  neither  Mrs.  Besant  nor  any  of  her  followers 
is  a  member  of,  or  associated  with,  or  endorsed  by,  the  Universal  Brotherhood 
and  Theosophical  Society,  which  reason  is  to  be  found  in  Mrs.  Besant's 
advocacy  of  'Co-Masonry'  and  her  urging  her  followers  to  actively  par- 
ticipate in  politics. 

As  for  'Co-Masonry,'  such  advocacy  may  impose  upon  some  of  the  public 
who  are  unacquainted  with  the  principles  of  Freemasonry  which  govern  the 
Masonic  Fraternity.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  state  that  to  all  members  of  the 
Masonic  Fraternity  and  to  all  who  know  the  meaning  and  purpose  of  Free- 
masonry, such  advocacy  is  ridiculous.  It  is  as  ridiculous  as  the  attempt  of  a 
woman  to  masquerade  as  a  man,  or  vice  versa.  It  can  never  be  more  than 
masquerading.  Every  Freemason  who  is  one  really  and  not  merely  in  name, 
knows  this.    More  need  not  be  said  here. 

In  regard  to  politics,  the  same  general  argument  applies  as  in  regard  to 
religious  dogmas,  church  creeds,  etc.,  as  given  above.  For  the  sake  of  the 
public,  however,  it  should  be  said  that  as  the  Theosophical  Society  is  un- 
sectarian  and  does  not  therefore  give  support  to  any  church,  sect,  or  creed; 
so  also  is  it  non-political  and  cannot  therefore  support  any  political  party  or 
movement,  or  take  part,  as  a  Society  or  through  its  members,  in  politics. 
For,  as  churches,  sects,  and  creeds  divide  and  provoke  dissension,  so  do 

*This  statement  is  not  in  any  sense  a  criticism  of  the  Old  Catholic  Church  or  its  teachings, 
nor  would  that  church  be  named  here  had  it  not  been  named  by  Mrs.  Besant.  The  Theo- 
sophical Society  attacks  no  church,  no  man's  religion;  but  neither  does  it  advocate  any  religion, 
but  seeks  only  for  the  Truth  underlying  all. 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  29 

politics  divide  and  provoke  dissension  and  stir  up  strife;  and  are  thus  in- 
compatible with  the  basic  teaching  of  Theosophy,  viz.:  Universal  Brotherhood. 
The  position  of  the  Theosophical  Society  in  regard  to  politics  is  clearly  stated 
by  H.  P.  Blavatsky  in  her  work,  The  Key  to  Theosophy,  in  these  words: 

Do  you  take  any  part  in  politics? 

As  a  Society  we  carefully  avoid  them,  for  the  reasons  given  below.  To  seek  to 
achieve  political  reforms  before  we  have  effected  a  reform  in  human  nature,  is  like 
putting  new  wine  into  old  bottles.  Make  men  feel  and  recognise  in  their  innermost 
hearts  what  is  their  real,  true  duty  to  all  men,  and  every  old  abuse  of  power,  every 
iniquitous  law  in  the  national  policy  based  on  human,  social  or  political  selfishness, 
will  disappear  of  itself.  Foolish  is  the  gardener  who  tries  to  weed  his  flower-bed 
of  poisonous  plants  by  cutting  them  out  from  the  surface  of  the  soil,  instead  of 
tearing  them  out  by  the  roots.  No  lasting  political  reform  can  be  ever  achieved 
with  the  same  selfish  men  at  the  head  of  affairs  as  of  old. 

The  Theosophical  Society  is  not,  then,  a  political  organization? 

Certainly  not.  It  is  international  in  the  highest  sense,  in  that  its  members 
comprise  men  and  women  of  all  races,  creeds,  and  forms  of  thought,  who  work 
together  for  one  object  —  the  improvement  of  humanity;  but  as  a  society  it  takes 
absolutely  no  part  in  any  national  or  party  politics. 

Why  is  this? 

For  the  very  reasons  I  have  mentioned.  Moreover,  political  action  must 
necessarily  vary  with  the  circumstances  of  the  time  and  with  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  individuals.  While,  from  the  very  nature  of  their  position  as  Theosophists, 
the  members  of  the  Theosophical  Society  are  agreed  on  the  principles  of  Theo- 
sophy, or  they  would  not  belong  to  the  Society  at  all,  it  does  not  thereby  follow 
that  they  agree  on  every  other  subject.  As  a  society  they  can  only  act  together 
in  matters  which  are  common  to  all  —  that  is,  in  Theosophy  itself;  as  individuals, 
each  is  left  perfectly  free  to  follow  out  his  or  her  particular  line  of  political  thought 
and  action,  so  long  as  this  does  not  conflict  with  Theosophical  principles  or  hurt 
the  Theosophical  Society. 

The  logic  of  this  position  is  so  clear  that  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the 
state  of  mind  of  one,  professing  to  be  a  Theosophist,  who  knowingly  departs 
from  it.  In  such  case  one  can  only  conclude  that  there  has  been  no  real 
understanding  of  Theosophy. 

Wide  publicity  has  recently  been  given  in  the  daily  press  to  the  recent 
action  of  the  British  Government  in  India  in  placing  restrictions  upon  Mrs. 
Annie  Besant,  on  account  of  her  political  activities.  An  Associated  Press 
Dispatch,  also  widely  published,  reports  that  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
July  11th,  the  following  statement  was  made  by  Mr.  Austin  Chamberlain, 
Secretary  for  India: 

The  Madras  Government  had  offered  to  relax  its  prohibition  of  Mrs.  Annie 
Besant,  head  of  the  Theosophical  Society,  so  far  as  it  affected  her  Theosophical 
and  religious  activities,  but  that  Mrs.  Besant  declined  the  concession  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  impossible  to  separate  her  Theosophical  and  political  work  — * 

*When  just  about  to  go  to  press,  information  was  received  through  the  publication  of  an 
Associated  Press  Dispatch  dated  Bombay,  India,  Sept.  17th,  that  Mrs.  Besant  and  two  of  her 
associates  "have  been  released  from  internment  by  the  Madras  Government.  They  had  been 
held  for  political  agitation."  The  Press  Dispatch  further  states  as  follows:  "It  was  recently 
announced  that  the  Indian  government  was  prepared  to  recommend  to  the  Madras  govern- 
ment that  the  restrictions  placed  on  these  people  be  removed  if  the  government  were  satis- 
fied they  would  refrain  from  unconstitutional  and  violent  methods  and  political  agitation 
for  the  remainder  of  the  war." 


30  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

Compare  Mrs.  Besant's  statement  with  that  made  by  Mme.  Blavatsky, 
which  we  again  quote. 

To  seek  to  achieve  political  reforms  before  we  have  effected  a  reform  in  human 
nature,  is  like  putting  new  wine  into  old  bottles.  Make  men  feel  and  recognise  in 
their  innermost  hearts  what  is  their  real,  true  duty  to  all  men,  and  every  old 
abuse  of  power,  every  iniquitous  law  in  the  national  policy  based  on  human, 
social  or  political  selfishness,  will  disappear  of  itself. 

This  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter.  The  work  of  Theosophy  and  of  all  true 
Theosophists  is  basic.  Any  attempt  to  mix  politics  with  Theosophy,  or  to 
use  Theosophy  or  the  Theosophical  Society  to  further  political  ends  or  in 
support  of  any  political  movement,  would  be  to  desert  this  basic  position; 
seeing  that  such  action  and  such  support  would  necessarily  accentuate  the 
differences  and  antagonisms  between  men  and  parties  instead  of  fostering 
the  basic  principles  of  Universal  Brotherhood  by  which  men  can  unite  to  act 
in  harmony  for  the  good  of  all.  Just  as  the  accentuation  of  religious  dogmas 
and  creeds  is  a  cause  of  separation,  antagonism,  and  dissension,  so  too  the 
accentuation  of  political  opinions  and  the  support  of  one  political  party  as 
against  another,  are  likewise  fruitful  sources  of  separation,  dissension,  and 
antagonism.  Hence  no  Theosophist,  if  he  is  seeking  truly  to  fashion  his  life 
on  the  principles  of  Theosophy,  and  certainly  no  Theosophical  Teacher,  will 
attempt  to  mix  politics  with  Theosophy,  for  this  would  be  a  direct  violation 
of  the  principles  of  Theosophy,  and  could  not  be  regarded  otherwise  than  as 
showing  an  utter  disregard  for  those  principles  and  for  the  main  object  and 
purpose  of  the  Theosophical  Society,  and  as  a  failure  to  apply  those  principles 
in  the  affairs  of  daily  life. 

The  only  alternative  conclusion,  if  the  above  be  not  held  as  applicable, 
is  that  Mrs.  Besant  has  totally  failed  to  understand  the  principles  and  teach- 
ings of  Theosophy,  and  the  first  object  of  the  Theosophical  Society.  It 
should  be  said  that  Mrs.  Besant  ceased  to  be  a  member  of  the  original  Theo- 
sophical Society,  being  removed  from  its  ranks  by  a  majority  vote  of  ninety- 
three  per  cent,  of  its  members,  as  far  back  as  the  year  1895,  and  at  no  time  since 
having  been  recognised  by  the  members  of  that  society  as  an  exponent 
of  Theosophy. 

In  conclusion,  the  original  Theosophical  Society,  now  known  as  The 
Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society,  ever  has  been  and  is 
fundamentally  and  irrevocably  unsectarian  and  non-political.  And  while 
Theosophists,  "as  individuals,"  as  stated  above  by  Mme.  Blavatsky,  are 
"perfectly  free  to  follow  out  his  or  her  particular  line  of  political  thought  and 
action,"  and  as  stated  in  the  Constitution  to  "believe  or  disbelieve  in  any 
religious  system  or  philosophy,"  it  must  be  distinctly  understood,  as  she 
further  says,  that  this  is  so  only  "so  long  as  this  does  not  conflict  with  Theo- 
sophical principles  or  hurt  the  Theosophical  Society,"  that  is,  only  so  long  as 
it  does  not  provoke  dissension  and  cause  antagonism.  Official  sanction  or 
advocacy  of  any  political  movement  or  party  or  activity,  or  of  any  church, 
religious  dogma,  or  creed,  would  be  a  direct  violation  of  the  principles  of 
Theosophy  and  of  the  first  object  of  the  Theosophical  Society.  Founded  as 
it  is  upon  Theosophy,  and  holding  to  the  principles  of  Theosophy,  the  Theo- 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  31 

sophical  Society  cannot  be  otherwise  than  fundamentally  and  irrevocably 
unsectarian  and  non-political,  so  long  as  it  is  true  to  its  declared  objects 
and  purposes.  And  the  history  and  work  of  the  original  Theosophical  Society, 
under  the  guidance  of  its  three  Teachers,  Helena  P.  Blavatsky,  William  Q. 
Judge,  and  Katherine  Tingley,  have  demonstrated  that  it  has  remained 
true  to  those  teachings  and  principles.  Furthermore,  any  society  that 
deviates  from  those  principles  and  teachings  cannot  be  a  Theosophical 
Society  in  the  true  meaning  of  that  term;  for  Theosophy  is  more  than  a 
teaching  or  a  mode  of  thought;  it  is  a  life,  true  living,  right  action.  It  is 
Theosophy  that  the  true  Theosophist  will  uphold,  it  is  Theosophy  he  will 
seek  to  make  the  rule  and  guide  of  his  life,  for  as  H.  P.  Blavatsky  said, 
"Theosophist  is,  who  Theosophy  does." 


All  lovers  of  justice  should  find  this  interesting: —  ^ 

(Supplement  to  The  Theosophical  Path,  August,  1916) 

RETRACTION   BY   'THE   NEW   YORK   WORLD' 

The  two  documents  which  are  given  below  require  little  introduction, 
because  they  tell  their  own  story. 

On  May  27th,  1916,  I  demanded  from  The  New  York  World  a  retraction 
of  certain  libelous  statements  embodied  in  an  article  published  by  it  on 
March  19th,  1916,  the  alternative  being  the  filing  by  me  of  a  suit  at  law  for 
libel  against  this  paper. 

The  World  expressed  a  readiness  to  correct  its  mistake  by  a  published 
retraction,  which  duly  appeared  in  its  pages  on  July  9th,  under  the  heading 
'The  Truth  about  Katherine  Tingley.'  This  retraction  is  the  second  of  the 
reprints  which  follow. 

(Copy) 
POSTAL    TELEGRAPH    COMPANY 

(Night   Lettergram) 

Point   Loma,    California 
May  27th,  1916 

To  the  Owners,  Editors  and  Publishers  of 

The  New  York  World,  New  York  City 

The  article  published  on  pages  5  and  17  of  The  New  York  World  Magazine 
of  March  19th,  1916,  entitled  'Purple  Mother  of  Point  Loma,'  is  based  on 
falsehoods,  distorted  truths  and  facts  which,  in  the  context  and  form  in 
which  they  are  published,  produce  entirely  false  impressions.  I  am  convinced 
that  it  is  a  libel.    It  has  already  caused  and  will  continue  inevitably  to  cause 


32  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

me,  both  in  my  private  and  my  official  capacity,  extensive  and  irreparable 
injury. 

In  view  of  the  nature  of  the  defamation  and  of  its  being  published  in 
connexion  with  the  litigation  over  the  Spalding  estate,  thereby  unwarrantably 
connecting  me  with  that  litigation,  I  am  led  to  infer  that  either  the  writer 
was  animated  by  a  malicious  intent  or  was  the  mere  mouthpiece  of  others 
who  are  interested  in  breaking  the  will  of  the  late  A.  G.  Spalding,  who  left 
the  bulk  of  his  estate  to  his  wife,  and  not  one  cent  to  myself  or  the  institution 
which  I  represent. 

It  is  not  only  an  injury  to  me  living,  but  will  dishonor  my  memory  and 
blight  the  continuance  of  my  educational  and  humanitarian  work  after 
I  am  gone.  Moreover,  it  is  a  serious  reflexion  upon  the  intelligence,  motives 
and  credit  of  the  members  of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical 
Society,  of  which  I  am  the  Leader  and  Official  Head  —  members  located  at 
the  International  Theosophical  Headquarters  here  at  Point  Loma,  members 
throughout  America,  and  members  in  foreign  countries. 

It  is  a  most  defamatory  attack  upon  my  private  life  and  upon  my  public 
work.  It  holds  me  up  to  public  hatred,  contempt  and  ridicule.  It  charges  me 
with  dishonest,  immoral,  and  even  criminal  conduct.  The  lawyers  to  whom 
I  have  referred  the  article  in  question  unhesitatingly  and  entirely  coincide 
with  my  views  as  expressed  above. 

Before  instructing  my  lawyers  to  bring  action  for  damages  for  the  publica- 
tion of  the  article,  I  am  disposed  to  give  you  an  opportunity  to  counteract  as 
far  as  possible  the  injury  you  have  done  me,  by  making  a  full  retraction  of 
such  a  nature  as  the  circumstances  of  the  publication  require. 

With  this  purpose  in  view  I  send  this  telegram,  to  ask  you  to  notify  my 
attorney  in  this  case,  Jaspersen  Smith,  of  the  firm  of  Montgomery,  Hart, 
Smith,  and  Steere,  The  Rookery,  Chicago,  Illinois,  by  wire,  if  you  are  ready 
to  consider  the  publication  of  such  a  retraction  as  I  will  prepare  and  mail 
to  you  within  a  few  days  from  the  receipt  of  your  answer. 

All  I  ask  from  you  is  justice. 

(Signed)     Katherine  Tingley 


(From  The  World  Magazine,  July  9,  1916) 

THE   TRUTH    ABOUT    KATHERINE   TINGLEY 

A  Statement  of  Facts  Published  in  Justice  to  the  Universal 

Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society  and  to  its 

Leader  and  Official  Head 

/'N  the  Sunday  Magazine  section  of  'The  World'  for  March  19th,  1916,  there 
appeared  a  full-page  illustrated  article  by  Edward  H.  Smith,  under  the 
heading:    'THE  PURPLE  MOTHER  OF  POINT  LOMA.' 

The  article  purported  to  deal  with  the  life  of  Katherine  Tingley,  Leader  and 
Official  Head  of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society,  which  has 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  33 

its  International  Headquarters  at  Point  Loma,  California.  It  also  commented  on 
Madame  Tingley's  connexion  with  the  contest  of  the  will  of  the  late  A.  G.  Spalding. 
The  article  was  widely  circulated  and  was  reproduced  in  whole  or  in  part  by 
other  newspapers  in  North  and  South  America.  It  has  given  serious  offense  to 
Madame  Tingley,  her  friends,  and  the  members  of  the  Theosophical  Society. 
They  have  complained  and  asked  for  a  correction.  The  World's  Bureau  of 
Accuracy  and  Fair  Play  has  taken  up  these  complaints,  and  after  an  inquiry 
has  found  that  the  article  was  defamatory,  inaccurate  and  misleading  in  many 
of  its  statements,  and  that  it  did  Madame  Tingley  and  her  associates  at  Point 
Loma  an  injustice.  It  is  with  a  view  to  correcting  the  injustice  that  this  publica- 
tion is  made. 

THE  immediate  cause  of  the  publication  complained  of  was  the  filing  by 
the  son  and  adopted  son  of  the  late  Albert  G.  Spalding,  the  'Father 
of  American  Baseball/  of  a  suit  to  contest  Mr.  Spalding's  will,  which  left 
$100,000  to  each  of  the  contestants,  a  similar  amount  to  Mr.  Spalding's 
stepson,  and  the  remainder  of  the  estate  to  his  widow,  Mrs.  A.  G.  Spalding, 
who  resides  at  Point  Loma,  California,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Theosophical 
Society.  Several  contests  and  amended  contests  were  filed,  the  legal  verbiage 
and  character  of  which  apparently  misled  the  writer  in  his  phrasing  of  certain 
portions  of  The  World's  publication.  The  statements  of  contestants  were 
objected  to  by  the  attorneys  for  Mrs.  A.  G.  Spalding  and  amended  statements 
of  contest  were  substituted,  charging  in  a  less  offensive  form  that  Mr.  Spalding 
was  of  unsound  mind  when  he  made  his  will,  and  that  the  will  was  the  result 
of  a  conspiracy  between  Mme.  Tingley,  Mrs.  A.  G.  Spalding  and  the  stepson. 
These  charges  have  been  denied,  and  the  case  is  awaiting  trial. 

Meantime,  Mme.  Tingley  has  filed  suit  in  the  courts  of  San  Diego,  Cali- 
fornia, for  $250,000  damages  against  Keith  Spalding,  one  of  the  contestants, 
against  his  wife,  and  J.  W.  Spalding  and  H.  B.  Spalding,  respectively  brother 
and  nephew  of  the  late  A.  G.  Spalding.  Mme.  Tingley  alleges  in  the  complaint 
that  a  conspiracy  exists  to  defame  her  and  to  injure  the  educational  and 
humanitarian  work  which  she  is  directing. 

Several  of  the  statements  made  in  the  magazine  article  were  the  subject  of 
inquiry  in  a  libel  suit  brought  in  1901  by  Mme.  Tingley  against  a  prominent 
Los  Angeles  newspaper.  In  this  suit  a  verdict  for  a  substantial  amount  in 
favor  of  Mme.  Tingley  was  awarded  by  the  jury,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of 
California  sustained  the  award  after  overruling  several  hundred  objections. 

Other  incorrect  statements  in  the  article  concerned  the  Patterson  will 
case,  filed  in  1910  to  contest  a  will  in  which  Mme.  Tingley  was  one  of  the 
beneficiaries.  It  was  alleged  that  Mrs.  Patterson-Thurston  was  of  unsound 
mind,  and  that  Mme.  Tingley  had  unduly  influenced  the  making  of  the  will. 
The  court  on  motion  for  a  new  trial  held  that  Mrs.  Patterson-Thurston  had 
not  the  necessary  mental  capacity  to  make  a  will,  but  that  there  was  no  evi- 
dence to  sustain  the  charges  against  Mme.  Tingley.  The  court  therefore  set 
aside  the  verdict  of  the  jury  on  the  latter  point,  and  pending  an  appeal  a 
compromise  resulted  between  the  contesting  relatives  and  Mme.  Tingley. 

The  World's  inquiry  shows  that  certain  of  the  statements  in  the  magazine 
article  were  taken  from  previous  newspaper  publications  regarding  Mme. 


34  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS    OF 

Tingley  and  the  Theosophical  Society  which  have  been  repeated  at  intervals 
for  several  years  past.  These  statements  were  circulated  by  Alexander  Fuller- 
ton,  who  was  once  the  secretary  of  the  American  section  of  a  Theosophical 
society  not  connected  with  or  endorsed  by  Mme.  Tingley  or  the  Universal 
Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society.  Fullerton  was  arrested  February 
18th,  1910,  by  Anthony  Comstock  on  a  Federal  warrant  charging  him  with 
sending  obscene  matter  through  the  mails.  On  February  •24th,  1910,  he  was 
committed  as  insane  upon  the  order  of  Justice  Platzek  of  the  New  York 
Supreme  Court  and  the  Federal  prosecution  was  dropped.* 

In  1902,  when  certain  charges  and  objections  were  made  to  Mme.  Tingley's 
receiving  a  number  of  Cuban  children  in  the  Point  Loma  school,  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Immigration  at  Washington  sent  the  Commissioner-General  of 
Immigration  to  undertake  a  personal  investigation,  and  he  filed  a  report 
highly  commendatory  of  the  school. 

The  International  Headquarters  of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theo- 
sophical Society,  including  the  Raj  a- Yoga  College  and  School,  are  visited 
year  in  and  year  out  by  numbers  of  prominent  American  and  European 
teachers,  jurists,  artists,  musicians  and  social  service  workers.  The  public  is 
permitted  to  visit  the  grounds  and  the  buildings  from  ten  to  four  o'clock  each 
day  and  to  become  familiar  with  the  Theosophical  activities.  The  permanent 
residents  on  the  Point  Loma  grounds  number  well-known  teachers,  artists, 
musicians  and  others,  all  of  several  nationalities,  giving  to  the  place  an  air  of 
cosmopolitan  culture.  The  open-air  Greek  Theater,  situated  on  the  edge  of 
the  cliffs  overlooking  the  Pacific  Ocean,  was  built  by  Katherine  Tingley,  and  was 
the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States,  and  here  have  been  presented  many 
of  the  great  Greek  tragedies  and  several  of  the  plays  of  Shakespeare. 


*To  enable  the  reader  to  understand  this  paragraph  more  clearly  it  should  be  stated  that 
Alexander  Fullerton  had  two  objects  in  view  in  circulating  the  statements  referred  to: 

(1)  To  prejudice  the  public  as  well  as  the  members  of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  and 
Theosophical  Society  against  Madame  Tingley,  so  that  she  would  be  forced  to  resign,  thus 
giving  to  Alexander  Fullerton  the  opportunity  of  inviting  the  members  of  the  Universal  Brother- 
hood and  Theosophical  Society  to  join  Mrs.  Besant's  so-called  Theosophical  society,  of  which 
he  was  General  Secretary  in  America. 

(2)  Knowing  that  Madame  Tingley  had  evidence  regarding  his  immoral  and  perverted 
conduct  with  boys  —  and  knowing  too  of  her  rescue  work  among  boys  and  girls  and  the  un- 
fortunate generally  —  he  sought  to  blacken  her  character  and  reputation,  so  that  in  case  she 
should  exfKJse  him  she  would  be  discredited  in  the  eyes  of  the  public. 

No  one  but  an  insane  man  would  have  dared  to  publish  and  circulate  such  maliciously 
false  and  defamatory  statements  —  so  scandalous  that  he  dared  not  have  them  printed  or  sent 
through  the  mail  —  which  in  typewritten  form  were  passed  surreptitiously  from  hand  to  hand. 
And  yet  Alexander  Fullerton  retained  for  many  years  afterwards  his  position  as  the  chief 
officer  of  Mrs.  Besant's  society  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  and  in  her  magazine  The  Theosophist,  March 
1910  (he  was  arrested  in  February  1910),  Mrs.  Besant  published  a  eulogy  of  him,  over  her  own 
initials,  speaking  of  him  as  a  'Theosophical  Worthy'! 

Theosophical   Defense   League 


THE    THEOSOPHICAL    MOVEMENT  35 

PRESERVING    POINT: -tpMiai;;' FROM 
THE    MYTH-MONGERS 

From  the  San  Diego  'Union,'  Sunday,  July  30th,   1916: 
Extracts  from  'On  the  Margin,'  by  'Yorick' 

WHAT  is  a  legend?  How  are  myths  invented  and  propagated?  From 
what  circumstances  of  superstition  and  ignorance  do  false  religions 
emanate?  Wherein  were  the  heroes  and  saints  of  tradition  different  from 
their  fellow-citizens  and  neighbors?  I  was  amusing  myself  the  other  day 
with  these  speculations,  when  I  suddenly  realized  that  I  did  not  have  to 
search  the  recondite  and  occult  black-letter  tomes  of  medievalism  for  an 
answer  to  my  questions.  I  recalled  that  within  the  corporate  jurisdiction  of 
San  Diego  two  conspicuous  examples  of  myth  and  fable  are  in  the  making. 
One  of  these  is  the  legend  of  Ramona,  for  which  there  is  not  the  slightest 
foundation  except  the  romance  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  and  the  other  is  the 
popular  superstition  that  clusters  and  grows  constantly  about  the  Inter- 
national Theosophical  Headquarters  at  Point  Loma,  of  which  Katherine 
Tingley  is  the  head  and  the  guiding  spirit.  The  difference  between  these 
San  Diego  myths  is  in  the  fact  that  Ramona  never  existed ;  whereas  Madame 
Tingley  is  very  much  alive,  as  some  of  those  most  active  in  propagating  the 
popular  fables  concerning  her  work  and  institution  have  found,  to  their 
sorrow  and  cost  —  the  cost  involving  much  of  the  sorrow. 

Classic  Precedent  for  Legend-Making 

I  suspect  that  much  of  the  legend  growing  in  the  gardens  of  Point  Loma 
is  fostered  by  local  prejudice  against  a  philosophy  which  the  legend-makers 
do  not  understand,  but  which  they  fear  is  an  insidious  assault  upon  their 
own  cherished  faiths  and  beliefs.  What  men  do  not  understand  they  con- 
demn, and  what  they  fear  they  persecute. 

Only  the  other  day,  for  the  most  recent  example,  it  was  necessary  for 
Madame  Tingley  to  offer  proof  against  the  New  York  World  that  it  had 
libeled  her  and  the  organization  of  which  she  is  the  leader,  in  a  full-page 
illustrated  article  written  by  one  Edward  H.  Smith  and  published  in  the 
World's  Sunday  Magazine  section  under  the  heading,  'The  Purple  Mother 
of  Point  Loma.'  In  her  communication  to  the  owners,  editors  and  publishers 
of  the  World  Madame  Tingley  characterized  the  article  as  "a  most  defama- 
tory attack  upon  my  private  life  and  upon  my  public  work"  .  .  .  holding  her 
up  to  "public  hatred,  contempt  and  ridicule"  .  .  .  charging  her  with  "dis- 
honest, immoral,  and  even  criminal  conduct,"  and  closing  with  the  significant 
statement  that,  "Before  instructing  my  lawyers  to  bring  action  for  damages 
for  the  publication  of  the  article,  I  am  disposed  to  give  you  an  opportunity  to 
counteract  as  far  as  possible  the  injury  you  have  done  me,  by  making  a  full 
retraction  of  such  a  nature  as  the  circumstances  of  the  publication  require." 


36  HISTORICAL    INCIDENTS 

A  Retraction  Under  Stress 
J*         „ ', ' 

After  a  consultation  with  their  own  lawyers,  the  editors  and  publishers 
of  the  World  printed  this  retraction: 

[Here  follows  the  World's  statement  as  to  the  Retraction.] 

They  are  Growing  all  around  Us 

A  very  handsome  apology,  to  be  sure!  but  what  a  pity  that  the  World's 
'Bureau  of  Accuracy  and  Fair  Play*  didn't  perform  its  functions  before  the 
publication  of  the  "defamatory,  inaccurate  and  misleading"  article.  The 
incident,  of  course,  is  now  closed  as  far  as  it  concerns  Madame  Tingley  and 
the  New  York  World;  but  I  fear  that  the  credulous,  prejudiced,  romance- 
loving,  myth-making  multitude  will  go  right  along  inventing  and  believing 
absurd  and  grotesque  tales  of  what  is  doing  at  Point  Loma  —  an  institution 
as  open  to  the  light  of  day  as  its  beautiful  Greek  Theater  down  in  the  canyon 
that  looks  to  the  sunset  as 

"The  mountains  look  on  Marathon, 
And  Marathon  looks  on  the  sea." 

So  you  will  understand  why  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  delve  in  ancient  lore 
or  to  search  through  the  pages  of  Max  Miiller  to  learn  the  secret  of  legendary 
origins  and  mythical  sources.     The  greenest  grass  grows  at  our  own  door. 


"There  is  no  Religion  Higher  than   Truth" 

^ntbcrsal  Protijerijoob  ant  l^fjeosfopijical  ^ocietj 


Established  for  the  benefit  oj  the  people  of  the  earth  and  all  creatures 

OBJECTS 

This  BROTHERHOOD  is  part  of  a  great  and  universal  movement  which  has  been  active 
in  all  ages. 

This  Organization  declares  that  Brotherhood  is  a  fact  in  Nature.  Its  principal  purpose  is 
to  teach  Brotherhood,  demonstrate  that  it  is  a  fact  in  Nature  and  make  it  a  living  power  in 
the  life  of  humanity. 

Its  subsidiary  purpose  is  to  study  ancient  and  modern  religions,  science,  philosophy  and 
art;   to  investigate  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  divine  powers  in  man. 

*  *  * 

The  Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society  welcomes  to  membership  all 
who  truly  love  their  fellow-men  and  desire  the  eradication  of  the  evils  caused  by  the  barriers  of 
race,  creed,  caste,  or  color,  which  have  so  long  impeded  human  progress.  To  all  sincere  lovers 
of  truth,  and  to  all  who  aspire  to  higher  and  better  things  than  the  mere  pleasures  and  interests 
of  a  worldly  life,  and  are  prepared  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  make  Theosophy  a  living  energy 
in  the  life  of  humanity,  its  various  departments  offer  unlimited  opportunities. 

The  whole  work  of  the  Organization  is  under  the  direction  of  the  Leader  and  Official  Head, 
Katherine  Tingley,  as  outlined  in  the  Constitution. 


The  International  Brotherhood  League 

(Founded  in  1897  by  Katherine  Tingley) 

Department  for  Practical  Humanitarian  Work  of  the 
Universal  Brotherhood  and  Theosophical  Society 

OBJECTS 

1.  To  help  men  and  women  to  realize  the  nobility  of  their  calling  and  their  true  position 
in  life. 

2.  To  educate  children  of  all  nations  on  the  broadest  lines  of  Universal  Brotherhood; 
and  to  prepare  destitute  and  homeless  children  to  become  workers  for  humanity. 

3.  To  ameliorate  the  condition  of  unfortunate  women,  and  assist  them  to  a  higher  life. 

4.  To  assist  those  who  are,  or  have  been,  in  prisons  to  establish  themselves  in  honorable 
positions  in  life. 

5.  To  abolish  capital  punishment. 

6.  To  bring  about  a  better  understanding  between  so-called  savage  and  civilized  races 
by  promoting  a  closer  and  more  sympathetic  relationship  between  them. 

7.  To  relieve  human  suffering  resulting  from  flood,  famine,  war,  and  other  calamities; 
and  generally  to  extend  aid,  help,  and  comfort  to  suffering  humanity  throughout  the  world. 

For  further  information  regarding  the  above  Notices,  address 

The  Secretary 
International  Theosophical  Headquarters 
Point   Loma,    California 


Aryan  Theosophical  Press 
Point  Loma,  California 


